Tungmetallförorenat vatten har ansetts vara ett av de största globala miljöproblemen och att hitta en hållbar miljövänlig lösning är en stor utmaning. Många glasbruk i södra Sverige fortsätter att vara källor för metallföroreningar. Växtbaserade flytande våtmarker (FTW) är en relativ ny och miljövänlig metod för att rena metallförorenade vatten. FTW med hundstarr (Carex nigra) och strandlysing (Lysimachia vulgaris) installerades i Ljungbyån nedströms Orrefors och i Kalmar Dämme i maj och hämtades efter 8 veckor. Halterna av arsenik, bly, kadmium, koppar och zink i växter, ytvatten och sediment analyserades med Inductively coupled sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). Halterna av bly (2,42 µg/l), kadmium (0,017 µg/l) och zink (4,93 µg/l) var högre i Ljungbyåns vatten medan högst halter av arsenik (0,77 µg/l) och koppar (9,64 µg/l) fanns i Kalmar Dämme. Ljungbyåns sediment innehöll högre halter av samtliga metaller jämfört med Kalmar Dämme. Strandlysing hade kortare rötter, lägre biomassan och förhöjt förhållande torrvikt: färskvikt i Ljungbyån jämfört med Kalmar Dämme medan tillväxten hos hundstarr inte var negativt påverkad i Ljungbyån. Hundstarr tenderade att ackumulera mer av metallerna med undantag av kadmium i Ljungbyån medan strandlysing tenderade att ackumulera mer av metallerna med undantag av bly i Kalmar Dämme. Nettoackumulering och translokering av kadmium skiljde mellan arterna (27% och 22% för hundstarr jämfört med 7% och 4% för strandlysing) medan nettoackumulering och translokering för bly skiljde mellan vattendragen (76% och 43% för Ljungbyån jämfört med 10% och 12% för Kalmar Dämme). Translokering var störst för den metall som hade högst vattenhalt medan vilken metall som translokerades minst skiljde mellan växterna. Fallstudien indikerar att fytoremediering med flytande våtmarker kan vara ett intressant miljövänligt alternativ för sanering av lokala vattendrag. / Heavy metal contaminated water has been recognised as one of the major global environmental problems and finding a sustainable environmentally friendly solution is a major challenge. Many glassworks in southern Sweden continue to be sources of metal pollution. Plant-based floating treatment wetlands (FTW) are a relatively new and environmentally friendly method to treat metal contaminated water. FTWs with Carex nigra and Lysimachia vulgaris were installed in Ljungbyån downstream of Orrefors glassworks and in Kalmar Dämme in May, 2023 and retrieved after 8 weeks. The concentrations of arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper and zinc in plants, surface water and sediment were analysed by inductively Coupled Plasma Sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). The levels of lead (2,42 µg/l), cadmium (0,017 µg/l) and zink (4,93 µg/l) were higher in Ljungbyån, while the highest levels of arsenic (0,77 µg/l) and copper (9,64 µg/l) were found in Kalmar Dämme. Sediment from Ljungbyån contained higher concentrations of all metals compared to Kalmar Dämme.  L. vulgaris had shorter roots, lower biomass and an elevated dry weight: fresh weight ratio in Ljungbyån compared to Kalmar Dämme, while the growth of C. nigra was not negatively affected in Ljungbyån. C. nigra tended to accumulate more of the metals except for cadmium in Ljungbyån, while L. vulgaris tended to accumulate more of the metals except for lead in Kalmar Dämme. Net accumulation and translocation of cadmium differed between species (27% and 22% in C. nigra compared to 7% and 4% in L. vulgaris) whilst net accumulation and translocation of lead differed between sites (76% and 43% in Ljungbyån compared to 10% and 12% in Kalmar Dämme). Translocation was greatest for the metal with the highest water concentration while the least translocated metal differed between plants. The study indicates that phytoremediation with FTW may be an economic and sustainable potential option for the remediation of water bodies in a eco-friendly ways.

Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) are an innovative best management practice that can enhance the performance of traditional retention ponds by increasing removal of the nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P). FTWs consist of floating rafts on which wetland plants are planted, allowing the roots to be submerged below the water surface while the shoots remain above. A growing body of research has documented FTW performance with regard to urban runoff treatment, however evaluation of FTW effectiveness for treatment of agricultural runoff has received less attention. Due to high fertilization and irrigation rates, commercial nursery runoff contains much higher concentrations of N and P than runoff from urban areas. We conducted this study over two growing seasons (2015 and 2016) to assess the effectiveness of FTWs for use in commercial nursery retention ponds. In the first study we used two different nutrient concentrations, one to simulate nursery runoff (17.1 mg∙L-1 TN and 2.61 mg∙L-1 TP) and one to simulate concentrations that fall between urban and nursery runoff (5.22 mg∙L-1 TN and 0.52 mg∙L-1 TP). Four treatments were used: 1) Pontederia cordata planted in cups supported by a Beemat, 2) Juncus effusus planted in cups supported by a Beemat, 3) a Beemat with no plants, and 4) no treatment (open-water). Performance was evaluated based on a 7-day hydraulic retention time (HRT). Pontederia cordata removed between 90.3% and 92.4% of total phosphorus (TP) and 84.3% and 88.9% total nitrogen (TN), depending on initial loads. These reductions were significantly more than other treatments at both high and low nutrient loading rates. Juncus effusus performed better than the control treatments for TP removal at low nutrient concentrations, but did not perform any better than the control at higher nutrient loads. In the second study, conducted in 2016, we evaluated different plant species over two 8-week trials using simulated nursery runoff. We used five monoculture FTWs with the following species: Agrostis alba, Canna ×generalis, Carex stricta, Iris ensata, and Panicum virgatum. Additionally, two treatments were created from mixed species plantings and the final treatment consisted of an open water control mesocosm. Nutrient removal performance was evaluated over a 7-day HRT. P removal (phosphate-P) by FTW treatments ranged from 26.1% to 64.7% for trial 1 and 26.8% to 63.2% for trial 2. Trial 1 N removal (sum of ammonium-N, nitrate-N, and nitrite-N) efficiencies ranged from 38.9% to 82.4%, and trial 2 ranged from 12.9% to 59.6%. Panicum virgatum removed significantly more N and P than the control and any other FTW treatment in the second study. Both studies indicated, depending upon plant species, that FTWs can effectively remove nitrogen and phosphorous from urban and commercial nursery retention ponds. / Master of Science