Water hyacinths extract aluminum and iron from contaminated water, posing disposal challenge.
Water hyacinth plants were tested to see if they could remove aluminum and iron from contaminated water in Madín Dam. The plants were able to remove up to 72% of the metals when left in the water for 60 days. Young plants were the most effective at removing the metals. When the plants were replaced every 15 days, they removed about 86% of the metals. However, the plants could not transfer the metals from their roots to their leaves. To completely remove the metals, the entire plant had to be harvested. This means that the harvested plants would need to be treated as hazardous waste due to their high metal content.