Phytoremidation

Introduction

Phytoremediation is a collective term for various ways of decontaminating contaminated soil, water and air with the help of plants. In phytoremediation, different plants’ abilities to extract, stabilise or degrade pollutants are utilized.

The use of soil plant (or vegetation) biofiltration is also a way to recycle nutrients from waste water back into the environment.

In sewage, leachate and industrial process water there may be hidden resource in the form of plant nutrients which can partially or completely replace conventional fertilizers.

The idea of making use of these nutrients (in e.g. sewage water) and at the same time increasing the water purity, was developed at the beginning of the 90’s in Svalöv municipal.
A vital part of this process is a need to distribute the sewage water evenly and uniformly.

That was how Laqua Waste water Irrigation System (LWIS) was born. LWIS ia a specially adapted irrigation system for waste water distribition on willow.

Since 1996 hundreds of hectares of willow have been irrigated with LWIS.

The system is characterized by:

• Reliability and robustness
• Low building and maintenance costs
• A system with low maintanance requirements
• Modular system that is adaptable to local conditions
• It can be integrated with various water/sewage systems
• Harvesting can be done without disassembling the system