Stormwater is a source of pollutants in urban areas and should be treated to prevent negative environmental effects. A newer technique uses floating rafts with plants, called floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), which are placed in the polluted water. Few earlier studies have examined heavy metal removal by FTWs, and none has examined stormwater in cold climates. This study therefore aimed to determine whether plants growing in FTWs could accumulate heavy metals from stormwater ponds in a cold climate. This study examined the abilities of three native wetland species (i.e., Carex riparia, C. pseudocyperus, and Phalaris arundinacea) to accumulate Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. The plants were planted on FTWs, which were placed in two stormwater ponds in Stockholm, Sweden, for 12 weeks. Phalaris arundinacea accumulated more Cd, Cu, and Zn than did the Carex species, and C. pseudocyperus accumulated less Pb than did the other species during the experimental period. In most cases, the roots had higher metal concentrations than did the shoots. Carex pseudocyperus had smaller differences between shoot and root metal contents, whereas P. arundinacea had higher Cd and Cu contents and lower Zn contents in its roots than in its shoots. The metal content in the plants increased with higher biomass. The plants that grew in the stormwater pond with a higher Zn concentration had a higher Zn tissue concentration and total Zn content per plant after treatment. This study shows that wetland plants growing on FTWs can accumulate metals from stormwater ponds in a cold climate. Phalaris arundinacea appears to be a good candidate for metal removal use in FTWs. Furthermore, high plant biomass positively affects the metal uptake, meaning that good growing conditions could be essential for metal removal.

Elevated levels of heavy metals and chloride are commonly found in stormwater, as a consequence of pollution from traffic, building material and industries, and the use of salt for deicing in wintertime. Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), consisting of vegetated rafts that can be placed in stormwater ponds, may be able to reduce heavy metal and chloride concentrations, but until this date have mainly been used for nutrient removal in warm climates. Plants are essential in FTWs as pollutants are taken up into plant tissues, adsorbed to exposed plant surfaces, precipitated due to chemical interactions with root exudates or bound to plant litter.

The aim of the study was to examine: A) which plant species that should be used on FTWs in a cool climate for efficient heavy metal and chloride removal, and B) to identify plant traits that are connected to high pollutant removal capacity as a help for identification of additional suitable species.

Thirty-four wetland plant species, all growing in wild in Sweden, were used in the study. These were all grown hydroponically for 5 days in a solution containing 1.2 µg Cd L^–1, 68.5 µg Cu L^–1 ¸ 78.4 µg Pb L^–1, 559 µg Zn L^–1 and 55.4 mg Cl L^-1. Carex pseudocyperus and Carex riparia were found to quickly reduce the concentration of all added heavy metals, and keep the concentration low for the remainder of the exposure period. In addition, nine species were able to remove all metals except cadmium quickly. High removal capacity of metals was found to be connected to biomass traits, mainly large fine root and leaf biomass, and to transpiration, which is correlated with to leaf biomass. Twenty-three of the tested species have also been evaluated for their chloride uptake, and Phalaris arundinacea and Glyceria maxima were identified as the species with highest chloride removal capacity. Preliminary analysis show that the correlation between biomass and chloride removal capacity is weaker than for heavy metals.

In conclusion, the removal capacity of heavy metals and chloride differs between plant species, which can be explained by differences in the traits of the plants. The findings indicate that removal of both heavy metals and chloride can be achieved by FTWs in cold climates using a combination of native plants.

Deicing with sodium chloride maintains safe roads in the winter, but results in stormwater runoff with high chloride (Cl⁻) content that causes various downstream problems. Chloride-rich water risks contaminating groundwater, shortening the lifespan of concrete and metal constructions, and being toxic to aquatic organisms. Current stormwater treatment methods are unable to remove Cl⁻, but wetland plants with high chloride uptake capacity have potential to decrease Cl⁻ concentrations in water. The aim was to identify suitable plant species for removing Cl⁻ from water for future studies on phytodesalination of water, by comparing 34 wetland plant species native to Sweden in a short-term screening. Additionally, Carex pseudocyperus, C. riparia, and Phalaris arundinacea was further compared as to their salinity tolerance and tissue Cl⁻ concentration properties. Results show that Cl⁻ removal capacity, tissue accumulation, and tolerance varied between the investigated species. Removal capacity correlated with biomass, dry:fresh biomass ratio, water uptake, and transpiration. The three tested species tolerated Cl⁻ levels of up to 50–350 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹ and accumulated up to 10 mg Cl⁻ g⁻¹ biomass. Carex riparia was the most Cl-tolerant species, able to maintain growth and transpiration at 500 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹ during 4 weeks of exposure and with a medium removal capacity. Due to a large shoot:plant biomass ratio and high transpiration, C. riparia also had high shoot accumulation of Cl⁻, which may facilitate harvesting. Phalaris arundinacea had the highest removal capacity of the investigated species, but displayed decreased growth above 50 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹. From this study we estimate that wetland plants can remove up to 7 kg Cl⁻ m⁻² from water if grown hydroponically, and conclude that C. riparia and P. arundinacea, which have high tolerance, large biomass, and high accumulation, are suitable candidates for further phytodesalination studies.

Plants are the crucial component of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs). However, heavy metal removal capacity varies between plant species, and the relationships between plant traits and differences in removal capacity remain unclear. This study sought to determine: (1) the relationships between plant traits and removal of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn from water, and (2) the relationships between the removal patterns of these metals. Plants of 34 wetland plant species were exposed to heavy metal concentrations common in stormwater for five days, and 20 traits were measured on each plant. Results indicate that the most important plant traits for heavy metal removal from water are transpiration and high total biomass, especially large amounts of fine roots and leaves. The same traits were generally related to removal both initially and after longer exposure, with stronger correlations found after longer exposure. Plant removal of one metal was likely correlated with removal of the other metals, and the plant removal capacity after 30 min of exposure was correlated with the removal capacity five days later. The present results can be used in selecting plants for enhanced heavy metal removal by FTWs and in identifying additional useful plant species, allowing adaptation to local conditions.

Stormwater with low temperatures and elevated salinity, common in areas where deicing salt is used, might affect the removal of heavy metals by plants in stormwater treatment systems such as floating treatment wetlands. This short-term study evaluated the effects of combinations of temperature (5, 15, and 25 °C) and salinity (0, 100, and 1000 mg NaCl L⁻¹) on the removal of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn (1.2, 68.5, 78.4, and 559 μg L⁻¹) and Cl⁻ (0, 60, and 600 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹) by Carex pseudocyperus, C. riparia, and Phalaris arundinacea. These species had previously been identified as suitable candidates for floating treatment wetland applications. The study found high removal capacity in all treatment combinations, especially for Pb and Cu. However, low temperatures decreased the removal of all heavy metals, and increased salinity decreased the removal of Cd and Pb but had no effect on the removal of Zn or Cu. No interactions were found between the effects of salinity and of temperature. Carex pseudocyperus best removed Cu and Pb, whereas P. arundinacea best removed Cd, Zu, and Cl⁻. The removal efficacy for metals was generally high, with elevated salinity and low temperatures having small impacts. The findings indicate that efficient heavy metal removal can also be expected in cold saline waters if the right plant species are used.

Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), consisting of vegetated rafts, may reduce heavy metal levels in polluted water, but the choice of plant species for efficient metal removal needs to be further investigated. We screened the capacity of 34 wetland plant species to remove metals dissolved in water to identify suitable species for FTWs. The plants were grown hydroponically for 5 days in a solution containing 1.2 µg Cd L⁻¹, 68.5 µg Cu L⁻¹, 78.4 µg Pb L⁻¹, and 559 µg Zn L⁻¹. Results show large variation in metal removal rate and capacity between the investigated species. The species with highest removal capacity could remove up to 52–94% of the metals already after 0.5 h of exposure and up to 98–100% of the metals after 5 days of exposure. Plant size contributed more to high removal capacity than did removal per unit of fine roots. Carex pseudocyperus and C. riparia were the most efficient and versatile species. The findings of this study should be considered as a starting point for further investigation of plant selection for improved water purification by FTWs.