THE ROLE OF FLOATING GARDENS TO IMPROVE THE WATER QUALITY OF THE CHICAGO RIVER

Publication Date

4-5-2019

Document Type

Poster

Degree Type

Graduate

Department

Geography, Geology and the Environment

Mentor

Eric Peterson

Mentor Department

Geography, Geology and the Environment

Abstract

The pollution of heavy metals within surface and groundwater is a rising global concern. Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc can be detrimental to both the environment and human health. As heavy metals are transported through rivers, they can be absorbed onto algae and bioaccumulate through the food web, leading to harmful concentrations within the waterways and sediment. In urban areas, the continual use of road salts is a concern as elevated concentrations of chloride (Cl-) can reduce the quality of both groundwater and surface water. Heavy metals may become mobilized due to both the physical and chemical changes in Cl- altered soil and become more available for plant uptake. Since surface waters can carry heavy metals and Cl- salts over a large distance, methods of in-situ phytoremediation are of growing importance. One promising solution to reduce the heavy metal and chloride concentrations is the use of floating gardens on streams and rivers. The use of floating gardens has been reported to cause significant decreases in the nutrient concentrations of surface waters. However, floating gardens are a relatively new concept and the majority of studies are about their effectiveness of nitrogen, phosphorus, and Cl- reduction with little to no information available on the effectiveness of heavy metal reduction. This study aims to answer the following question: 1) Do floating gardens provide an in-situ method of phytoremediation for heavy metals? To address this question, two hypotheses are proposed: 1) Heavy metal concentrations of the waters upstream from the floating gardens will be higher than the concentrations downstream and 2) Chloride concentrations of the waters upstream from the floating gardens will be higher than the concentrations downstream. Successful completion of this work will provide an understanding of a new method of phytoremediation that has potential for application across the globe.

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