Over the last decade, bamboo has emerged as an interesting plant for the treatment of various polluted waters using plant-based wastewater treatment systems. In these systems, nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in wastewater can exceed plant requirements and potentially limit plant growth. The effects of two nutrient rates on the growth of seven bamboo species were assessed in a one-year experiment: Dendrocalamus strictus, Thyrsostachys siamensis, Bambusa tuldoides, Gigantochloa wrayi, Bambusa oldhamii, Bambusa multiplex and Bambusa vulgaris. Nutrient rates were applied with a 20:20:20 NPK fertilizer as 2.6 and 13.2 t.ha.yr(-1) NPK to three-year-old bamboo planted in 70 L containers. Morphological characters, photosynthetic responses, and NPK content in bamboo tissues were investigated. Under high-nutrient supply rate, the main trend observed was an increase of culm production but the culms' diameters were reduced. For the seven species, the above ground biomass yield tended to increase with high-nutrient rate. Increasing in nutrient rates also improved the photosynthetic activity which is consistent with the increase of nitrogen and phosphorus contents measured in plant tissues. All the bamboo species tested appears suitable for wastewater treatment purposes, but the species Bambusa oldhamii and Gigantochloa wrayi showed the higher biomass yield and nutrient removaL

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On Réunion Island, a French overseas territory located in the western Indian Ocean, increasing pig livestock farming is generating large quantities of slurry. Most of it is spread on a little agricultural land due to the insular context. Considering the limitation of the quantities that can be spread on agricultural areas (European “Nitrate Directive” 91/676/EEC), the use of wastewater treatment systems using phytoremediation principles is an attractive option for the pig slurry treatment. A wastewater treatment system using bamboo groves was assessed for the pig slurry treatment. Three field plots were designed on an agricultural area and planted with 40 bamboo clumps on each plot. A total of 67 m3 of pig slurry was spread on two plots in two forms: raw slurry and centrifuged slurry. The latter plot was watered with tap water. The total amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was 5.3, 1.4 and 5.5 t·ha−1, respectively, for the raw slurry treatment and 4.2, 0.4 and 5.1 t·ha−1, respectively, for the centrifuged slurry treatment. The response of bamboo species to pig slurry application was determined using morphologic parameters, Chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements and biomass yield. Compared to the control, the biomass increased by 1.8 to 6 times, depending on the species and the form of slurry. Depending on the species, the average biomass ranged from 52 to 135 t.DM.ha−1 in two years of experiment.