Aquatic Plants for Water Treatment and Resource Recovery

by W.H. Smith

The ecological roles of aquatic plants in wetland environments in processing nutrients at the aquatic/terrestrial interface have been long recognized. Using these processes to solve anthropogenic environmental problems, however, is a recent development. Probably, the pioneering investigations on the use of macrophytes in water treatment were conducted by Dr. Kathie Seidel and co-workers in the early 1950s at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. In Florida, attention was focused on aquatic plants in the 1960s because certain exotics were becoming "weed" problems, especially in nutrient-enriched reservoirs. Dr. John F. Gerber, in 1971, while Assistant Dean for Research in the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), was among the earliest to observe that the rapid growth properties of aquatic plants in eutrophic waters could be used beneficially. Early success by projects encouraged by Dr. Gerber suggested that there was much to be gained if a comprehen

1088 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1987