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Home / Research News / Improving reservoir water quality with aquatic plants: Benefits and challenges
Ecology
Research News
Improving reservoir water quality with aquatic plants: Benefits and
challenges
Darren YEO (Group Leader, Biological Sciences)
April 20, 2020
NUS ecologists have revealed some of the capabilities of aquatic plants to enhance the water quality
of our reservoirs.
Aquatic plants (known as macrophytes) perform vital roles in freshwater ecosystems, including
providing habitats for wildlife, removing or reducing nutrients, and stabilising the substrata.
Macrophytes also help to maintain clear-water conditions in lakes and reservoirs, due to their ability
to compete with and inhibit phytoplankton (i.e., microscopic algae), which would otherwise cause the
water to appear green and murky. Good water clarity in turn boosts macrophyte growth, in a positive
cycle that further stabilises the low-phytoplankton abundance, clear water state.
Following a two-year study in partnership with the PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, a
research team led by Prof Darren YEO Chong Jinn and Prof Hugh TAN Tiang Wah from the
Department of Biological Sciences, NUS, together with Prof Simon MITROVIC from the University of
Technology, Sydney, have found that an artificial floating wetland comprising water banana (Ludwigia
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adscendens) and knot grass (Persicaria barbata) can trigger marked improvements in water clarity in
1,000-litre in-situ experiments deployed at Pandan Reservoir. The team also included project
manager and research fellow, Dr Maxine MOWE and graduate student Darren SIM, whose Ph.D.
study is centred on this project.
While floating wetlands have been deployed in various water bodies to enhance water quality and
provide wildlife habitat, as part of PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) programme,
this study seeks to optimise their restorative potential.
“Many aquatic plants have tremendous potential for controlling nuisance algae in our reservoirs,”
said Mr Sim. “Interestingly, we also found that the fully-aquatic tapegrass (Vallisneria spiralis) could
synergise with other wetland plants for stronger effects against cyanobacteria or blue-green algae,
which are most often responsible for undesirable effects of algal blooms, including production of
toxins, taste and odour, and poor water clarity.”
Another type of floating plant, the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) showed similar effects on
phytoplankton and water clarity but had an even greater ability to remove excess nutrients from the
water. Dr Mowe commented, “Although water hyacinth has a reputation as an invasive species, it
can be useful in this instance to compete against phytoplankton growth and has been previously
used for wastewater treatment in other countries.”
2/5/2025, 4:44 pm
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