Water Hyacinth Removal from a River

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Water Hyacinth Removal from a River

We are facing the problem of water hyacinth in our river Tapi (India).  The entire river is full with Hyacinth.

We are trying to remove it but its growth rate is very high, so we are not able to do so.

We are faced with this problem every year in winter till the monsoon season (January to June).

We need some biotech solution for permanent removal of water hyacinth from our river. Can anyone suggest a solution?

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43 Answers

  1. Hi everyone,


    This might be an interesting update on what to do with the water hyacinth and a good way of turning a problem into a solution - a startup called HiGi Energy is making clean energy out of the water hyacinth.

    "HiGi’s solution is to convert water hyacinth into solid biofuel briquettes that can be used for household and commercial cooking, industrial heating, and potentially power generation. The production of briquettes is sustainable and easy to make, as there is abundant supply of the fast-growing plant"

    Check it out here.

  2. The problem of getting rid off and treating water hyacinth can be carried out in a systematic manner as below:

    1. Stop the sewage flowing into the river. In the portion upstream of the water hyacinth.
    2. Introduce Chinese or any other carp fish into affected portion, after consulting the fisheries department. This fish likes to eat the water hyacinth and can also purify the water to some extent. This can be also sold in the market after getting it tested for any damaging effect.
    3. Some of the water hyacinth can be taken out and treated for producing bio-gas and manure. Other green garbage and cow dung could also be mixed with it. Even sewage could be treated along with it.
    4. This would have to be carried out over a long period to make it economical.
    5. This method was tried in Kota in the Chambal River and has also been tried by the Chinese many years back.

  6. We suggest the solution used in parts of Lake Victoria.  Mechanical harvesting using floating reapers. The weeds collected this way are taken to the shore to be use in anaerobic digestion systems which yield electricity and fertilizer.  In Lake Victoria the weeds include Nile Lettuce which prevented us from using them as livestock feed.    Neal@newrangepower.com

  7. Dose this water freeze over at all during the winter.  I was part of a solution in the past where they put a 6 mill plastic film on the frozen ice with and put Copper Sulfate on the film and when the ice melted the plastic film settled to the bottom and the problem was solved in that section of the lake.  This can be done in sections if it is a large lake.  

  10. There are lots of factors for the extensive growth of water hyacinth. Improving the water flow or discharge by introducing geomorphology techniques would help to increase the flow and ideal temperature. Depending on the river morphology maybe introduce boulders , logs and other methods to increase the discharge. I will look into the satellite image of the river and will be able to give some concrete suggestion

    Nadeem Kazmi ( Dibu )

  11. If you seek a permanent solution for eradicating water hyacinth and ready to invest 6 months... then here's a herbal solution. Its ancient Indian science.

    Eradication Of EICHORNIA (Water Hyacinth)

    Most water bodies in India have been taken over by a plant species popularly called  Water Hyacinth  (Eichornia crassipes). When not controlled, water hyacinth covers lakes and ponds entirely, with its environmental invasiveness. This chokes waterways, dramatically impacts water flow, blocks sunlight from reaching other aquatic plants, and starves the water of oxygen, often killing the fish, frogs, turtles and other aquatic animals. The plants also create a prime habitat for mosquitoes. This species has rapidly spread throughout inland and coastal freshwater bays, lakes, and marshes and are a major hindrance to navigation as well..

     

    PHYTOCIDE-90  is a neem oil-based organic formulation that acts as a weedicide and herbicide. The active ingredient is Azadirachtin. It is food grade, non-toxic and safe for humans, animals and regular plants while being tough on weeds and harmful herbs. It kills the plants not through toxicity but by absorbing chlorophyll in the leaves and stems. Without chlorophyll, the plants cannot manufacture their own food and as a result, the tend to wither and die. This makes PHYTOCIDE extremely safe for human beings and aquatic creatures like fishes, frogs, tadpoles, etc. The safety of this reagent places it in a class above conventional inorganic weedicides, which are normally corrosive and extremely harmful to humans and animal life.

     

    Video Link: 

    http://youtu.be/UQljVfnR-wI

    ‎http://www.ecohealth.in/phytocide.html

  12. The nutrients in sewage are responsible for Water Hyacinth growth. Water Hyacinth is a problem since it has no or low economic value. If you can grow some other biomass that does not cover / choke the river and has more economic value, your problem is solved. 

    The nutrients in the river can be used to grow Diatoms and fish would feed on the diatoms and the fish can be sold in the traditional manner. 

    We have a solution to grow Diatoms in large rivers and large lakes. Our product Nualgi is invented specifically to grow Diatom Algae in large waterways.   

    Diatoms consume the nutrients and thus starve out the water hyacinth. 

    Our US distributor's website - 

    http://www.nualgilakes.com/whats-nualgi/  

  13. "just because you can remove it, doesn't mean you have to"

    The cause of Water Hyacinth itself is the Solution of the Problem.

    If you can't intercept the untreated Sewage inlets lines, then let "Nature" do the required work.

    Studies already show about 75% and 85% of COD & BOD Reduction, respectively, in the shallow Water Hyacinth Ponds. Considering the flow and depth of the Tapi river, the same results shall be observed in upstream and downstream of the Area containing Water Hyacinth.

    The presence of Water Hyacinth has negligible effect comparative to the disposal of untreated sewage, especially in the city like Surat, near to the coastal region.

  14. What a great list of options for removal of the hyacinths from the group, but another issue is to prevent future blooms once the problem had been addressed (which ever method is chosen), then the issue is future prevention.  Recently, a lot of Green Infrastructure/Low Impact Design (GI/LID) papers have been published for developing countries that focus on nutrient removal associated with use of Bioswales along rivers to prevent infiltration of nutrients and in these bioswales plants are selected that have high nutrient uptake. Here in the US some States are requiring agriculture land use abutters to streams and rivers to start using setbacks that have bioswales to capture stormwater runoffs inhibiting nutrient flow into the receiving body of water. This is especially true along those rivers that are using river water by downstream communities for drinking water.

  15. I agree with the point Rasheed mentioned to stop sewage water into the river is the only way of completely eradicating them.

  16. Using of copper sulphate can reduce the hyacinth problem.  For lakes, 2.5 kg copper sulphate/acre is commonly recommended.  

    The untreated sewage and fertilizer runoff are the main reasons of eutrophication.  Those need to be minimized.

  17. I guess a mechanical harvester could ply up and down the river and remove tons of hyacinth.  Hey, I bet you have very high water quality with this much plant cover.  Yes?  Essentially, they are like floating islands, and the root zone is just great at clean up properties.  

  18. Hello Mehulbhai, is it possible to share the stretch of Tapi having this problem? The period you had mentioned is the low flow zone and seems the river is receiving lot of nutrients and I am sure the nutrients are coming from the point sources and if desired it would not be difficult to get rid of the same. You can reach out to me on rsingh.nih@gmail.com  

  19. In the USA, NASA ran a program which used water hyacinth for conversion to biofuel. The resultant byproduct is methane which can be used to subsidize natural gas supplies; or; processed and manufactured as a primary energy source. The methodology was simple manual harvesting; shredding; then biological digestion; from which collection and filtering of the raw gas yielded pure methane (natural gas). The only downside in the NASA project was insufficient supply of water hyacinth. It would seem that you have an abundant raw alternative energy source at hand which could provide a twofold benefit . I concur with our other professionals that nutrient prevention and removal and non-chemical eradication are sound advisement. Also, this could provide another job market for your country.

    2 Comments

  20. There may be a simple solution.  We are exploring two mechanisms that may be useful.  Both involve elimination of the symbiotic bacteria layers on the plant roots that convert nitrate to nitrite to ammonium that feed the plant its nitrogen source.  One uses ultrasound to produce a false sensation of water turbulence that causes the bacteria to avoid colonization on the root.  Another technique is to use a bacillus bacteria strain that eats the polysaccharide that holds the root colony together.  For more information, contact george@algaecontrol.us

     

  21. Inflow of organic matter, quite commonly sewage, results in growth of water hyacinth. Therefore, removal of sources of pollution will substantially reduce the growth of water hyacinth in the river.

    1 Comment

    1. I fully agree with the researcher Paritosh. As the plant's production is large in aquatic water, I suggest the use of this plant in applications of use, to produce an increase in the income of the needy population of the region, such as the production of handicrafts: manufacture of handbags and household utensils common.

  22. First, the use of Glyphosate or 2,4,D which are both Carcinogens, should be stopped.  Anyone using that water down stream will be subjected to Cancer.  From my experience, the best approach would be to limit the discharge of Nitrogen from the upstream WWTP's.  What is going on is that you are feeding the Hyacinths just what they need to grow.  If you drastically reduce the Nitrogen and other fertilizer run off, this will also help eliminate this rapid growth.  You have very high BOD and High Nitrogen.  This can be reduced and or eliminated by a high production of Aerobic microbes which will take down the Nitrogen and the BOD.  There is a company who can put in a series of BioCleaner units which would do just what I am suggesting. 

  23. Throughout the tropical regions of the world, the invasive aquatic plant Water Hyacinth is blocking vast areas of lakes, rivers and canals. Water Hyacinth can double in volume every 12 to 18 days. It blocks harbours, destroys economic fisheries, paralyses hydro-electric power stations and encourages the spread of diseases such as malaria, cholera and bilharzia.The three main current control mechanisms,

    1. Biological,
    2. Chemical and
    3. Manual, have only limited effect and can produce undesirable environmental consequences.

    Biological control

    Biological control is the use of host specific natural enemies to reduce the population density of a pest. Several insects and fungi have been identified as control agents for water hyacinth. These include a variety of weevils, moth and fungi. Biological control of water hyacinth is said to be environmentally benign as the control agents tend to be self-regulating. Control programmes are usually inexpensive due to the fact that the control agents are known and only a small numbers of staff are required to run such programmes. One major drawback is that it can take a long time to initiate such projects because it can take several years for the insect population to reach a population density sufficient to tackle the pest problem.

    Chemical control

    The application of herbicides for controlling water hyacinth has been carried out for many years. The common herbicides are 2,4-d, Diquat and Glysophate. It has been found that there is a good success rate when dealing with small infestations but less success with larger areas. Application can be from the ground or from the air and requires skilled operators. As mentioned earlier the main concern when using herbicides is the environmental and health related effects, especially where people collect water for drinking and washing.

    Physical control

    Mechanical removal of water hyacinth is seen as the best short-term solution to the proliferation of the plant. It is however costly, using either land-based ‘clamshell’ bucket cranes, draglines or booms or, alternatively, water based machinery such as mowers, dredges, barges or specially designed aquatic weed harvesters. Such methods are suitable for only relatively small areas. Many of these techniques require the support of a fleet of water and land-based vehicles for transporting the large quantities of water hyacinth which is removed. Manual removal of water hyacinth is suitable only for extremely small areas. It is difficult, labour intensive work and in some areas there are serious health risks associated with the work (crocodiles, hippopotamus and bilharzia in Lake Victoria for example).

    Reduction of nutrient run-off into the water

    Besides these three mainstream forms of control Harley, Julien and Wright suggest another method, namely the reduction of nutrient inputs to the water. Although strictly speaking this is a preventative method, it can be argued that a reduction in nutrients in the water body will result in a reduction in the proliferation of water hyacinth. In recent decades there has been a significant increase in the level of nutrients dumped into waterways from industrial and domestic sources as well as from land where fertilisers are used or where clearance has caused an increase in run-off. It seems that the systematic use of successive vetiver hedges along the river and lake beds, beside the positive impact on the bank protection, shows positive results in retaining nutrients, pollutants and sediments from the run-off to flow in the water.

     

  24. I am from Surat and well aware about Hyacinth and its carcenogenic side effects on population consuming such water.

    Most of the replies below are well in line with the fact that River Tapi (& all Indian rivers) should be free from sewage and effluents. However the fact is that none of the towns and villages in the upstream of Tapi have a genuinely good waste water treatment system. People of Surat pay for in-sufficient efflorts of concerned upstream town - village authorities.

    Along with Hyacinth removal, Mehulbhai, you also should intitiate for studies on increased incidences of Cancer in the city. This will confirm the fact that Hyacinth accumulates heavy metals and same are dispersed  when hyacinth decay in water body itself.

    There can not be a single solution. SMC need to work out simultaneous set of holistic solutions wherein nutrient inflow is controlled, natural vortex aeration system ( stones which creat hurdles in flow are actually helpful for aeration of flowing water), competition for nutrients consumption in river etc.

    We have technologies which can ensure 100% treated water discharged in the river, which can be implemented at rural & town level.  We also have systems which can raise DO level in river water.

    We would be happy to be a part of SMC team to fight pollution and hyacinth growth if you wish.

    I am available on 9825077613 / 9638645301.

    warm regards

    Niraj Mithani

    Director,

    Aeolus Sustainable Bio Energy Pvt Ltd, Surat

     

  25. I am from Surat and well aware about Hyacinth and its carcenogenic side effects on population consuming such water.

    Most of the replies below are well in line with the fact that River Tapi (& all Indian rivers) should be free from sewage and effluents. However the fact is that none of the towns and villages in the upstream of Tapi have a genuinely good waste water treatment system. People of Surat pay for in-sufficient efflorts of concerned upstream town - village authorities.

    Along with Hyacinth removal, Mehulbhai, you also should intitiate for studies on increased incidences of Cancer in the city. This will confirm the fact that Hyacinth accumulates heavy metals and same are dispersed  when hyacinth decay in water body itself.

    There can not be a single solution. SMC need to work out simultaneous set of holistic solutions wherein nutrient inflow is controlled, natural vortex aeration system ( stones which creat hurdles in flow are actually helpful for aeration of flowing water), competition for nutrients consumption in river etc.

    We have technologies which can ensure 100% treated water discharged in the river, which can be implemented at rural & town level.  We also have systems which can raise DO level in river water.

    We would be happy to be a part of SMC team to fight pollution and hyacinth growth if you wish.

    I am available on 9825077613 / 9638645301.

    warm regards

    Niraj Mithani

    Director,

    Aeolus Sustainable Bio Energy Pvt Ltd, Surat

     

  26. I am from Surat and well aware about Hyacinth and its carcenogenic side effects on population consuming such water.

    Most of the replies below are well in line with the fact that River Tapi (& all Indian rivers) should be free from sewage and effluents. However the fact is that none of the towns and villages in the upstream of Tapi have a genuinely good waste water treatment system. People of Surat pay for in-sufficient efflorts of concerned upstream town - village authorities.

    Along with Hyacinth removal, Mehulbhai, you also should intitiate for studies on increased incidences of Cancer in the city. This will confirm the fact that Hyacinth accumulates heavy metals and same are dispersed  when hyacinth decay in water body itself.

    There can not be a single solution. SMC need to work out simultaneous set of holistic solutions wherein nutrient inflow is controlled, natural vortex aeration system ( stones which creat hurdles in flow are actually helpful for aeration of flowing water), competition for nutrients consumption in river etc.

    We have technologies which can ensure 100% treated water discharged in the river, which can be implemented at rural & town level.  We also have systems which can raise DO level in river water.

    We would be happy to be a part of SMC team to fight pollution and hyacinth growth if you wish.

    I am available on 9825077613 / 9638645301.

    warm regards

    Niraj Mithani

    Director,

    Aeolus Sustainable Bio Energy Pvt Ltd, Surat

     

  27. Water hyacinth can easily got rid off by keeping the carp fish of any kind which will gladly eat up the water hyacinth and also reduce the water pollution. But the fish will remain alive if sufficient water is made available in a flowing condition during the period Jan. to Jun. Whatever, water hyacinth remains, it can be removed and converted into bio-gas along with other bio material or converted into electricity if possible. These things have been tried out in India in Rajasthan on the Chambal river and canal system many years back. This has also been done in China.  

    1 Comment

    1. Dear Mr. Mehul Patel, rivers in Pune, India, many times catch hyacinth. Our municipal corporation engages a contractor, who removes it. You should get in touch with Pune Municipal Corporation or even Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for getting the rates, names of contractors etc.

      Hyacinth removal is not a big problem. Idea must be to prevent it from happening. Regards,  

  28. E-mail me with water quality and photo, we will get back to you rapidly. hwoop@aol.com I am the director of Clean Rivers Trust and have helped in several parts of the world with regard to this problem. There is much that the plant can be used for!

  29. This is a problem across Indian rivers.

    As has been suggested by others Check for presence of toxic metals / other pollutants in Hyacinth. 

    Hyacinth can also be anaerobically digested. I remember a plant being in operation in Sangali area in south maharashtra being operated on water hyacinth. I do not know the present status.

    Composting is another option but check for pollutants.

    However both above are for handling WH after their removal from river.

    THere have been reports of  trials conducted by using insects and fishes who grow / feed on WH and which ultimately reduce the WH drastically.

     

  30. Water Hyacinth is an accumulator heavy metals especially chromium and help in treating contaminated water through phytoremediation. If the river is fed with sewage water or industrial effluent then certainly water hyacinth will carry a good amount of heavy metals and thus not recommended for composting. Composting will concentrate the nutrient concentration and when used for edible food production it will contaminate the soil and heavy metals enter the food chain. The sewage water and agricultural runoff contains good amount of N and P that supports the growth. Hence only option left is identifying the source of N and P and controlling or diverting the channel.  Water hyacinth is definitely treating the water and accumulating heavy metals but of no use for agriculture. Please check the Cd, Cr, Pb and Ni concentration in water hyacinth before composting.

  31. First check the nutrients that make this plant grow rapidly, and remove these nutrients, possibly from domestic sewage or fertilizer used in agriculture. Once this is done, you can work with these plants for innovative applications and uses, such as oxalic acid sources.

    1 Comment

    1. This is also good idea to eradicate water hyacinth on water body. but the water consists of nutrients. removing nutrients is very tough job. instead go for mechanical clearing/ chemical spray and stop the inflow of nutrient water from their sources. if you control the inflow from the nutrent water may be successfull for the water hyacinth problem in Tapi River in India

  32. Chickens like to eat water hyacinth, so if you can harvest it, you can feed to chickens (or hogs) and then have the animals concentrate into manure. Spraying will harm the entire ecosystem of the river, so is not a preferred strategy. While harvesting is labor intensive, you will be recovering a useful resource.

  34. Watershed management is the best to improve water quality issues. This is a nutrient problem and you can manage nutrients upstream. it is important to establish diffuse pollution, which can be managed by means of increasing riparian zones width, more than 15m in agricultural lands. The point source pollution should be detected and solved with wetlands of treatment plants, it depends on the type and size of problem. 

  35. The main problem is nutrients entering the river through fecal pollution or farm & field water runoff getting mixed in the river. Until you stop this Nitrogen & Phosphorous entering the river water, you will have this recurring  problem.

  36. The more ecological and at the same time profitable solution is to use the hyacinth to produce compost then used as fertilizar. We made the business plan and production design for a local company that has a explotation concesion in Ecuador www. iconsersa.com. They are producing an organic fertilizer branded as ecogreen. You may visit their website at  http://www.soamso.com/content/ecogreen.php and also a video about the production process: https://youtu.be/UQtpe8jD1hA . My email is ozavala@iconsersa.com in case you wish to contact me.

  37.  as a water expert, i have the solution but 1st tell me where is this place & the nearest airport for me to visit it, if you are willing to pay my airfare & all expenses plus my fee of RS 5,000/ . how much area in sq meters is the water covered with hycinth.

    balbir singh-pune-chem.engg.-call me on 09766594544 

  38. If the water quality cannot be improved I suggest the following:  aerial spraying to kill most of the plants - just so you can get ahead. Remove dead plants as much as possible or the decomposing matter will cause more problems, although this will be "once -off". Thereafter you will have to have a permanent physical removal program, which is labour intensive but is the most effective. The weevils are also very effective but takes a lot longer to make a significant impact.

  39. Hi Mehul, 

    I am inclined to agree with Dave (and not just because I am also from South Africa) and Sameer's comments - the reason why the hyacinth is growing in the first place is because your river water is nutrient rich (or to put it bluntly - polluted with organic waste material). 

    I believe Dave's solution will be your best bet in the long term - provided that you are able to implement a solution to eradicate the nutrient oversupply from the river - an example in South Africa where this has proven very difficult to achieve is the Hartebeespoort Dam, and the reason is that a lot of Johannesburg's wastewater is discharged into the dam's catchment rivers keeping the nutrient loading very high and encouraging Hyacinth growth. (Have a look at the site on Google earth) 

    Sameer's solution, to manage the growth, in the short term, although it is a long term solution as well, is your best bet whilst the river is contaminated with excess nutrients. 

    I can suggest a few options in this regard. If you're interested, contact me on email rob@selectra.co.za 

     

    I look forward to hearing from you

    Kind regards

     

    Rob

  40. Hi Mehul,

    Please email me on Dave@makroorganics.com so we can discuss your condition. I am based in South Africa but offer solutions to UK, UAE, South East Asia and now expanding to Asia (next week in Pakistan). Just removing hyacinth is not the solution and neither is killing it. It only gets worse once hyacinth starts decomposing , resulting in perfect conditions for "rapid aquatic plant expansion". We need to break the cycle and starve it...

    I wait for your email.

    Regards

    Dave

  42. Try the mottled water hyacinth weevil beetle Neochetina eichhorniae. It has been successful elsewhere e.g. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3703-weevils-save-lakes-from-water-hyacinth-pest/

    1 Comment

    1. I tried the link above and it didn't work due to extra hidden characters. However if you search the New Scientist site for "Water hyacinth" it is the top article on the list.

      Not sure if it will work, but I've also re-pasted the link:  https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3703-weevils-save-lakes-from-water-hyacinth-pest/

  43. I think you need to check it out from South Africa, they have done a lot of work on it to eradicate it from the water bodies.

     

    1 Comment

    1. A Nutrient Management Plan for the contributing water basin could be used to help prevent the rapid growth of the hyacinth. Then a harvesting and composting program could take the nutrients out of the river and recycle the nutrients for agricultural use.