PHYTOREMEDIATION OF WASTE WATER BY USING AZOLLA-ANABAENA CONSORTIUM AND ITS AQUATIC ASSOCIATES: A REVIEW.

Water crisis in today's society is challenging not only for humans but also for all living creatures. Water being the basis of life has become a sparse resource. To circumvent this situation, reusability of water can be one of the suited alternatives. In order to achieve this goal, many techniques prevail, of which phytoremediation is considered to be more effective and significant. Essentially, the major water pollutant sources are generated from domestic, commercial and industrial usages were the pollutants are discarded without any sort of pre-treatments, resulting in an increased risk of environmental pollution. Primarily, phytoremediation process converts the waste water into usable water essentially by the help of plants. The breakthrough advantage of phytoremediation is attributed for its economical and environmental friendly processes. But, selection of plants to be used for the phytoremediation process is tricky. A number of plants are available which can be used for the detoxification process. Among several, Azolla, a potent biofertilizer is well known for its phytoremediation activity. Essentially, the water fern Azolla associates with an algal symbiont - Anabaena azollae and carries out the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Till date, the basis of phytoremedial activity displayed by Azolla is limited. It would be quite revealing to expose the role of Azolla in the phytoremediation process. This review article emphasizes on phytoremediation, plausible role of Azolla in this process and tried to arrive at strategies for developing better scientific models to handle abundant quantities of wastewater with the use of this water fern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]