The present study demonstrated the phytoremediation
potential of water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes, for the
removal of copper (Cu) and Cadmium (cd). Young plants of
equal size were grown in tap water and supplemented with
0.35, 0.70 and 1.05 mg/L of Cu and 0.27, 0.54 and 0.81 mg/L
of Cd individually for 25 days. The experiment showed that
both Cu and Cd had effects on plant relative growth. The
plant at all the concentrations used in the experiment
removed approximately more than 90% of Cu and Cd.
Removal of metals from water was fast especially in the first
five days. The accumulation of Cu and Cd in roots and stems
increased with the initial concentration. At all levels the
plants accumulated the highest concentration of Cd in roots,
while the highest concentration of Cu was accumulated in
stems. The biocencentration factor (BCF) of Cu was higher
than that of Cd at the same duration, suggesting that the
accumulation potential of Eichhornia crassipes for Cu was
higher than that for Cd and could be used to treat wastewater
contaminated with low Cu and Cd accumulations.