en Water quality and wastewater treatment and reuse Original articles <div class="yw_text_small" dir="ltr" style="text-align:justify"> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="color:black"><b><i><span style="line-height:115%">Introduction:</span></i></b><span style="line-height:115%"> Phytoremediation is a process for restoring the environment that utilizes plant physiology and metabolism. The study was performed on a laboratory scale to assess the heavy metal removal efficiency of <i>Egeria densa</i>, its response to contaminated wastewater, and its potential for application in constructed wetlands.</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="color:black"><b><i><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; line-height:115%; padding:0in">Materials and Methods: </span></i></b><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; line-height:115%; padding:0in">Synthetic wastewater samples with low, moderate, and high concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn were prepared. <i>E. densa</i> was cultivated in these samples for 14 days under controlled conditions, and parameters such as heavy metal removal efficiency, growth rates, chlorophyll content, and water quality indices were analyzed.</span><span style="line-height:115%"></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="color:black"><b><i><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; line-height:115%; padding:0in">Results: </span></i></b><span style="line-height:115%">Results showed that in low heavy metal-contaminated wastewater, the removal efficiency of the <i>E. densa</i> for Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn was 93.7%, 91.20%, 87.2%, and 100%, respectively. In highly heavy metal-contaminated wastewater, the heavy metal removal efficiency of the <i>E. densa</i> for Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn was 36%, 54%, 35.2%, and 75%, respectively.&nbsp; Therefore, the study revealed that elevated heavy metal concentrations adversely affected the plant growth rate. </span></span></span></span></span><br> <b><i><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size:10.0pt; padding:0in"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">Conclusion: </span></span></span></i></b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif">E. densa</span></span></span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"> is a viable option for the constructed wetland system in scenarios where wastewater ranges from low to moderately contaminated respecting heavy metals. These findings can serve as a reference for future studies and provide valuable insights for researchers looking to implement <i>E. densa</i> as constructed wetland vegetation.</span></span></span></div> </div> Environmental Pollution, Wastewater, Water Purification, Phytoremediation, Wetlands, Plants. 2643 2655 http://jehsd.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-994-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Md. Swadhin Hossain swadhin30-255@diu.edu.bd 0009-0005-0320-5129 No Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh Mahfuza Parveen mahfuza_parveen@yahoo.com 0000-0002-1491-0481 Yes Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh Mohammad Rajib rajibmohammad@gmail.com 0000-0002-0182-4402 No Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh S.M Mahmudur Rahman mahmudur.esdm@diu.edu.bd 0000-0003-1992-8864 No Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh