Data Mining to Evaluate the Effect of Eichhornia crassipes and Lemna minor in the Phytoremediation of Wastewater in the Canton of Milagro

The constant increase in industrialization and urbanization has led to the regular discharge of wastewater into the environment in excessive amounts, which has caused significant impacts on both human and wildlife ecosystems. The sustainable management and treatment of wastewater, whether of industrial or domestic origin, represents a crucial challenge in this century. In this study, phytoremediation was employed as a wastewater treatment strategy using two species of aquatic macrophytes: water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and duckweed (Lemna minor). The study was conducted over seven consecutive evaluation periods, with five-day intervals between each. The objective was to apply the multivariate HJ-Biplot methodology to evaluate the effects of phytoremediation of two species of aquatic microphytes on the physicochemical characteristics of wastewater from Milagro canton, Ecuador. Additionally, a microbiological analysis was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the floating macrophytes. The analysis was based on the measurement of various physicochemical parameters, such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidation&ndash:reduction potential (ORP), salinity, total dissolved solids (TDSs), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), hardness, and temperature. The results showed that the highest efficiency in pollutant removal was achieved with duckweed (Lemna minor) in five out of nine measured parameters, suggesting that this species was the most effective compared to the control sample and Eichhornia crassipes. The capacity of these macrophytes for wastewater treatment was confirmed by this study. To ensure effective water purification, timely extraction of aquatic macrophytes from water bodies is recommended. If this collection is not properly carried out, the nutrients absorbed and stored in the plant tissues may be released back into the aquatic environment due to plant decomposition.