Introduction

Phytoremediation, as defined by dictionary.com, is the “process of decontaminating soil or water by using plants and trees to absorb or break down pollutants.” In Commonwealth Secondary School Constructed Wetland’s case, hydroponics, such as the Water Cannas, Lotus, Papyrus Sedge and Common Rush are used to absorb and break down pollutants found in the water. This allows dirty water from the washing basins of a ladies restroom to be reused as pond water for fish and other organisms to live in.

To explain how the treatment system works is a Site Plan kindly shared to us by our lovely classmate, Tan Wei Hao.
1.When a teacher turns on a tap to wash her hand, water flows out of the tap, washes away the dirt on her hands and flows down the sink into the grease trap.

2.Water from the grease trap then flows through the phytoremediation system which is a rectangular plot of land where hydroponics mentioned above are grown.

Water from Grease Tap flows into Phytoremediation System

3.The partially treated water then flows out and into the C1 Inlet, travels through the C-shaped pond to be further treated, and finally, flows out into the pond.

Water from Phytoremediation System flows into CI Inlet

And flows out of C2 Outlet(below) into Pond

The tank before pond is not part of the system and serves as a control in our analysis.

Tank before Pond