Landfills often contain harmful substances like heavy metals that can leak into the environment and contaminate soil and water. In this study, we explored whether vetiver grass, a plant known for its strong roots and ability to survive in tough environments—can help clean up water contaminated with these pollutants. We focused on two metals commonly found in landfill runoff: chromium and nickel.

We grew vetiver grass in different levels of polluted water collected from a landfill, ranging from lightly to heavily contaminated. Over 30 days, we measured how much of these metals the plants absorbed and checked their overall health. We found that vetiver was able to absorb large amounts of chromium in its roots and nickel in both roots and shoots. However, as the contamination increased, the plants showed signs of stress, especially in their leaves, which lost much of their green color.

Our findings suggest that while vetiver grass can help remove harmful metals from contaminated water, extremely high pollution levels may limit its effectiveness. This research helps us better understand how plants can be used to clean up the environment and recover useful materials from waste.