Both live plants and dried straw of

Both live plants and dried straw of water hyacinth were applied to a sequential treatment of swine wastewater
for nitrogen and phosphorus reduction. In the facultative tank, the straw behaved as a kind of
adsorbent toward phosphorus. Its phosphorus removal rate varied considerably with contact time
between the straw and the influent. In the laboratory, the straw displayed a rapid total phosphorus
reduction on a KH2PO4 solution. The adsorption efficiency was about 36% upon saturation. At the same
time, the water hyacinth straw in the facultative tank enhanced NH3-N removal efficiency as well. However,
no adsorption was evident. This study demonstrated an economically feasible means to apply water
hyacinth phosphorus straw for the swine wastewater treatment. The sequential system employed significantly
reduced the land use, as compared to the wastewater stabilization pond treatment, for pollution
amelioration of swine waste.