10. Hydroponic Root Mats for Wastewater Treatment: A Review

Aqueous vegetation, with its densely intertwined roots and rhizomes, produces buoyant screens in hydroponic root mats (HRMs), which are eco technological wastewater treatment methods. The water zone beneath the root mat and the base of the treatment system is subject to a preferred hydraulic flow. Devices like this may also act as a hydroponic root mats filter if the mat hits the bottom of the reservoir, allowing the hydraulic flow to be channeled immediately to the root zone. Wastewater from households, agricultural effluents, polluted rivers, lakes, stormwater, groundwater, and mine drainage with acid are only few of the water kinds that were treated with hydroponic root mats. This chapter of the book introduces the idea of using hydroponic root mats filters for wastewater treatment, both those that float and those that don’t. We compare the benefits and drawbacks of this technique with that of ponds, floating plant beds, and soil-based man-made wetlands, and offer metrics for performance.