Phytocontainment
Phytocontainment involves hydraulic control of contaminant plumes through plant transpiration and root water uptake USGS. This mechanism uses the natural water absorption capacity of plants, particularly deep-rooted trees, to control the movement of contaminated groundwater. Trees remove contaminated water from aquifers through their root systems, followed by biological alteration of contaminants within the trees or transpiration and volatilisation of contaminants into the atmosphere USGS. Long-rooted trees operate as pumps, drawing vast amounts of water from the subsurface water table, and contaminants in the water are absorbed along with the water during this process PubMed Central.
The approach provides hydraulic containment of groundwater plumes and is particularly effective with high-transpiring tree species such as poplars and willows. Trees can also promote microbial reductive dechlorination of dissolved contaminants within originally aerobic aquifers through root zone processes USGS. This makes phytocontainment suitable for managing contaminated groundwater, particularly with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as trichloroethylene (TCE), and preventing migration of contaminant plumes.