Plants fighting pollution
People Fixing the World
00:00
The Power of the Water Hyacinth
In the 1970s NASA found that water hyacinths thrive on sewage, they love it. In 1979 Disney dug four large trenches and filled them with water hyacinchs. They then channeled some of their wastewater through these beds. The project lasted about a decade before being shut down. Some plants are very useful in what we call phytoremediation. This is removing pollutants from water and soils. Lizzie McNeal has been finding out how to harness the cleaning power of this invasive weed.
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