Alfalfa plants, in particular, greatly help in transporting contaminants from deep-saturated zone to vadose zone of the soil. Plants may also help to contain the downward movement of contaminated water by reducing infiltration. For volatile organic compounds such as TCE, vegetation provides a slow, controlled release of compounds as compared to rapid volatilization of TCE from contaminated soils. Alfalfa plant tolerance to high concentration of these organics in contaminated water was also significant. Simulated results from numerical models were compared with obtained experimental data regarding the fate of pollutants.
Sufficient information is available to design plant-based bioremediation systems for many sites.
Several design strategies will be presented.