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Water Purifying Flower Gardens |
The flower gardens floating on the water make Lian Lake and Yue Lake – the two ecological lungs of Wuhan city – appear truly picturesque. However, they are not just ornamental features; they also play a crucial role in cleansing the wastewater that flows into these lakes.
Chinese scientists have implemented five comprehensive measures to protect the environment of these two lakes, suggesting their application in our country’s lakes as well.
First: Use water pumped through a filtration system that contains a flower garden. Specifically, water is pumped into a system of pipes with numerous small holes. These pipes are arranged parallel to each other on a large but not very deep lake (which will later become a flower garden), filled with various sizes of gravel. Yellow and red flowers from the family of taro are planted here. This type of plant has long roots that can effectively absorb organic and inorganic substances contained in wastewater. The water flowing down onto the hard ground will emerge at a certain point and flow into an artificial stream before returning to the lake. This stream is designed to be visually appealing.
It is also possible to plant a type of grass that grows very quickly and blooms beautifully during a specific season.
Second: Combine the first method but with soil covering the pipes that spray dirty water, and plant ornamental plants with deep roots in that soil to cleanse the water source.
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Flowers on the Lake Surface |
Third: Choose a corner of the lake to spread floating mats on the surface with small holes for planting the aforementioned flowers, creating a flower garden on the lake. The flowers bloom beautifully, and their roots can reach up to 60 cm deep, thereby quickly cleaning the lake water. When asked why water hyacinths are not used, Chinese managers explained that this type of plant grows too quickly, covering the entire lake surface, leaving no room for scenery or boating. Furthermore, their roots are not long enough.
Fourth: Use boats to deploy nets and hire workers to pull out rapidly growing algae that take up water surface area. This type of algae is then transported to be used as fish feed or for making fertilizers.
Fifth: In the area where water has been treated, before directing it into the large lake, it is concentrated in a smaller pond, treated with microbial products to decompose any remaining organic substances and significantly reduce indicators such as BOD, COD, NH3, NO2, NO3… This method also addresses the issue of water blooming, meaning that species of microalgae that thrive on excessive organic matter have overly proliferated on the water’s surface.
