The Ability of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crasipes Mart.) and Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes Linn.) for Reducing Pollutants in Batik Wastewater

¹ Department of Health Science, University of Muhammadiyah Purwokerto 53181, Indonesia
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Diponegoro University, SH-Tembalang, Semarang 50239, Indonesia
³ Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Diponegoro University, SH-Tembalang, Semarang 50239, Indonesia
⁴ School of Postgraduate Studies, Diponegoro University, SH-Tembalang, Semarang 50239, Indonesia
⁵ Department of Environmental Science, University of Latvia, Jelgavas Street 1, Room 302, Riga LV-1004, Latvia
⁶ Waste Laboratory, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Jl. Raya Tlogo Mas No.246 Malang 65144, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: beben_ump@yahoo.com

Abstract

Batik produced by craftsmen is categorized as a small and medium industry. The problem of Batik production is less attention to the environment because the craftsmen lived in the middle of a residential area that has inexperience. One of less attention to the environment is no treatment of wastewater that reaches up to 95 % (61.9 L each cloth). Thus it polluted the river. This research aimed to treat the wastewater of Batik production by using phytoremediation. In this study, phytoremediation was carried out in three tanks in series using Eichhornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes which are abundant in Indonesia. The treated wastewater was evaluated for its ammonia and chromium (Cr). The results showed that ammonia reduced 78.36 % by E. crassipes, and 73.13 % P. stratiotes. While E. crassipes reduced Cr by 63.76 % and P. stratiotes by 83.39 %. This research concluded that E. crassipes and P. stratiotes are potential plants to reduce the pollutants in Batik wastewater.