I. Introduction
Out of many example of sustainable or environmentally sound management or use of natural entities, the focus in the paper is on performance evaluation of different types of aquatic microphytes for wastewater treatment. Reeds are coarse grasses growing in wet places. Reed bed is one of the natural and cheap methods of treating domestic, industrial and agricultural liquid wastes[1]. Reed bed is considered as an effective and reliable secondary and tertiary treatment method where land area is not a major constraint. Generally reed bed is made in shallow pits, installed with a drain pipe in a bed of pieces of lime stones and filled up with pebbles and graded sand. In this sandy body, reed plants generally with hollow root which bring oxygen into the filter bed are planted. Reed bed is a biological wastewater treatment technology designed to processes found in natural wetland ecosystems. These systems use wetland plants, soils and their associated microorganisms to remove contaminants from wastewater[5]. The plant within the constructed wetland is the major component for the treatment process. The type of macrophyte chosen will vastly influence the efficiency and quality of wastewater. Plants provide an environment for microbes to live, they oxygenate the wastewater, providing nutrients for the microbes to survive, they stabilize the soil and they also partake in the reduction of nutrients[4].
Reed bed treatment system utilizes the active treatment capabilities of soil to biologically treat