11 AMAZING USES OF WATER HYACINTH

Water hyacinth is said to be a dangerous beauty plant. The plant looks beautiful but it is one of the top worst weeds on earth. But, you might not know there are amazing uses of water hyacinth.

The amazing uses of water hyacinth are it can be used for making bags, footwear can be used to make manure, turn into biofuel and lots more. 

This post will give you all the details of the amazing use of water hyacinth.

WATER HYACINTH

Water Hyacinth is a  weed that grows and floats in freshwater bodies like rivers, lakes, ponds, etc. It grows rapidly and has many harmful effects on the environment and the water bodies.

It forms a dense covering on the surface of the water within a few days. So, it creates problems in navigation, irrigation and destroys the native plants and animals.

But we can use this harmful weed for many useful purposes. It is a renewable material resource. You can use water hyacinth for making many sustainable products. Moreover, the products of water hyacinth will be great for your zero waste lifestyle.

11 AMAZING USES OF WATER HYACINTH

Water Hyacinth is a harmful weed but your view will change after you know about its uses. The amazing uses of water hyacinth makes it an environmental asset.

#1. WATER HYACINTH AS RAW MATERIAL FOR HANDICRAFT

The uses of water hyacinth fiber for making handicrafts is one of the most important uses of water hyacinth. Water Hyacinth is extensively used in handicrafts. It is used for making many materials. Bamboo and water hyacinth dried stem is a great combination for making many items.

Some of the handicrafts made from water hyacinth are listed below.

• Water Hyacinth  Baskets 
• Water Hyacinth  Bags
• Papers made of Water Hyacinth 
• Footwear made from Water Hyacinth 
• Water Hyacinth  Furniture
• Water Hyacinth  Dining mats and Crossest
• Ropes
• Water Hyacinth Yoga Mats

#2. WATER HYACINTH FIBER BOARDS

A strong and reliable fiberboard is used for making fiberboards. Water Hyacinth Fibreboard is made by processing the plant stalks and compressing the moist fragments into the desired shape.

Water Hyacinth board can be used for roofing, sheathing for walls, soundproofing, etc. In the future, this is going to be one of the most important uses of water hyacinth.

#3. WATER HYACINTH TO CLEAN UP THE POLLUTED WATER BODIES

You have seen water hyacinth grow well in highly polluted water. It absorbs nutrients from the water very fast. It absorbs major pollutants that are dumped in the water. This plant absorbs heavy metals like mercury, cadmium, etc into its tissue. 

Therefore, whether hyacinth has a great potential to clean up the contaminated water bodies. So, it makes a great alternative for the treatment of agro-industrial waste. This can be one of the important uses of water hyacinth.

#4. WATER HYACINTH AS LIVESTOCK FEED

Using Water Hyacinth as livestock feed is one of the important uses of water hyacinth. You can feed cattle, pigs, poultry and fish with water hyacinth meal.  You have to cook or mix water hyacinth with other nutritional food like groundnut cake, rice bran and fish meal to make food for your livestock.

Water hyacinth is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. So, it serves as a high-quality feedstock and is one of the promising uses of water hyacinth.

#5. WATER HYACINTH AS BEDDING MATERIAL FOR PRODUCTION OF MUSHROOM

Generally, rice straw or hay is used for the production of mushrooms. But, water hyacinth is the best alternative to hay for bedding material in the propagation of mushrooms. It is one of the underutilized uses of water hyacinth.

To grow mushrooms well, you need to choose a good bedding material. The bedding material act as an alternative to soil. Water hyacinth has a well amount of magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulfur and phosphorus. This is perfect for growing mushrooms.

#6. WATER HYACINTH BIOFUEL AND BIOGAS

Biofuel is one of the most amazing uses of water hyacinth. It is one of the cleanest methods to obtain clean energy. The fuel has no color but the blue color is added to make it visible

Water Hyacinth Biofuel is a very clean fuel. It doesn’t produce soot and no odor or smell. It is very cheap as compared to other fuels used for cooking.

 Moreover, the carbon emission is less as compared to other fuels. Biomass of Water Hyacinth with pig manure produces more biogas than pig manure alone.

#7. WATER HYACINTH COMPOST

Due to its spongy and bulbous structure, water hyacinth is ideal for composting. It can also be used for mulching and fertilizing the land.

Decomposed water hyacinth can also be used as green manure. The compost obtained improves poor quality soils. But, it should be used in horticulture as the manure may contain many harmful pollutants. It should be used only for flower plants.

#8. WATER HYACINTH FOR MAKING CARBON DOTS

Water hyacinth is used for making carbon dots. Carbon dots are carbon nanoparticles. When a nanoparticle is less than 10 nanometers, it is called a dot or nanodot. Carbon dots is used in the following field.

• Bioimaging
• Sensing
• Drug delivery
• Catalysis
• Fingerprint Recovery

Chlorophyll is removed from water hyacinth leaves. Then, it is dried and made into powder. The powder goes under several heat treatments at 150 degrees celsius to convert indo carbon dots.

#9. WATER HYACINTH PAPER

Water hyacinth can be used to make eco-friendly paper. You have the raw stalks of the plant and boil it until cooked. Then, you have to rinse the water out and add water paper into it.

The next process is blending. The mixture of boiled water hyacinth and wastewater is made into pulp. Some starch or natural gum is added to bind the pulp. Next, you have to put it into a sieve and sundry it. 

Next you will get the most eco-friendly paper you can create in your home. 

#10. ABSORPTION MATERIAL FORM OIL SPILL

Using it as an absorption material is one of the important uses of water hyacinth. The stem of water hyacinth is spongy. This particular feature allows us to use it to retain liquids.

In the industrial sector, it is used to absorb hydrocarbons and oils caused by leaks and spills.

#11. WASTEWATER TREATMENT USING WATER HYACINTH

Water is precious and scarce nowadays. You need to recycle the water for its efficient use. You must produce gallons of wastewater everyday. Wastewater can be treated and purified for use again.

Water Hyacinth can be used for wastewater treatment for every source of pollution. The wastewater may be from your home, industries, factories, etc. When water hyacinth is made to grow in these wastewaters it soaks most of the heavy metal ions. After the harmful ions are absorbed, this water can be made to flow in natural water bodies.

CONCLUSION

Water Hyacinth is a weed or dangerous beauty. After seeing the amazing uses of water hyacinth, your perception of this worst weed of the earth is obviously changed. In the coming post, I will list all the products you can buy that are made of water hyacinth.

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