Lab-scale constructed floating wetlands (CFWs) using Vetiveria zizanioides and Heliconia psittacorum in a batch mode system was studied to treat textile effluent. The CFW unit (size of 1.8 m x 0.6 m (LxW)) was made with palm fiber media wrapped in the fish net and tied to the PVC pipe frame. Two CFW units were each planted with V. zizanioides, and H. psittacorum, and one CFW unit was without plants as control treatment. Then all CFW units were placed in each microfiber cell with dimensions of 2 m x 0.98 m x 0.60 m (LxWxH). The performance of CFWs was examined for about 21 days with 20 and 50% textile effluent. V. zizanioides and H. psittacorum for both 20% and 50% textile effluent showed good performance in removing ammonia with removal efficiency (RE) ranging from 60 - 80%. Reasonable RE was observed for TN but not for TP and phosphate. The study suggests that both V. zizanioides and H. psittacorum could be potential plants used in the CFW system to treat textile effluent.

Constructed wetlands have promised sustainable treatment systems to remediate various industrial wastewaters, including textile. Textile wastewater contains a complex constituent of inorganic and organic pollutants such as dyes, toxic metals, surfactants, nutrients, and total dissolved solids. This preliminary study aims to evaluate the performance of Heliconia psittacorum in a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HFCW) system for the remediation of textile wastewater. An HFCW system was set in a tank with a volume of 2 m3 divided by three sections where each section filled with coarse gravel, fine gravel, and sand media respectively resulted in a bed volume of 0.322 m3. The top of media was added compost then planted with Heliconia psittacorum. Diluted textile wastewater with a concentration of 20% was fed to the system in a continuous horizontal flow with an HRT of 2.7 days. The performance of the HFCW system showed water quality improvement from the wastewater within 11 weeks of observation. DO increased from < 2 to around 4 mg/L, pH and conductivity increased considerably. High decrease in NH4 and TN concentrations in the effluent of the HFCW system were observed with fluctuated removal efficiency (RE). Maximum RE for ammonia, TN, TSS, and COD was > 80%. Although showing a decreasing pattern during observation, phosphorus was not effectively removed by Heliconia psittacorum in the studied HFCW system. Cleaner effluent was observed than much dirty and black colour of influent. Heliconia psittacorum grew well with increased shoot height and numbers of new plant seedlings. The long-term observation was needed for Heliconia psittacorum in the HFCW system to reach a steady state and to examine its potential to remediate textile wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can act as both a barrier but also as an entrance route for microplastics (MPs) into aquatic environment. This study investigated the first occurrence and characteristics of MPs in Setiabudi Jakarta WWTP. Sampling technique, extraction methods, and quantification as well as characterization of MPs was carried out based on some related previous studies. The results showed that MPs concentration detected in the influent was 17.1 (± 5.65) items/L, and it was reduced to 1.41 (± 0.01) items/L in the effluent, indicating that approximately 91.29% of MPs in raw wastewater was removed during the treatment. Based on the daily effluent discharge, it is estimated that around 352.5 of MPs are released from the WWTP each day. The light microscopic method used for quantification and characterization revealed that MPs was widely distributed in the 100–5000 μm range. The color of MPs in both influent and effluent was mainly composed of white or transparent (35%) and black (17–25.4%). Based on shape category, fibers (68–70.17%) are the dominantly found in two sampling points, followed by fragments (23.68–26.24%), films (0.71–2.9%), microbeads (0.4–1.4%) and foams (1.4–2.8%). Our findings demonstrates that the presence of Setiabudi WWTP can significantly reduce the MPs pollution from raw wastewater, however, MPs discharged into the environment was still considerably high.