**Application of Floating Aquatic Plants in Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Polluted Water: A Review**

**Shafaqat Ali 1,2,\*, Zohaib Abbas 1, Muhammad Rizwan 1, Ihsan Elahi Zaheer 1, ˙Ilkay Yava¸s 3, Aydın Ünay 4, Mohamed M. Abdel-DAIM 5,6, May Bin-Jumah 7, Mirza Hasanuzzaman 8 and Dimitris Kalderis 9**


Received: 11 February 2020; Accepted: 24 February 2020; Published: 3 March 2020

**Abstract:** Heavy-metal (HM) pollution is considered a leading source of environmental contamination. Heavy-metal pollution in ground water poses a serious threat to human health and the aquatic ecosystem. Conventional treatment technologies to remove the pollutants from wastewater are usually costly, time-consuming, environmentally destructive, and mostly ine fficient. Phytoremediation is a cost-e ffective green emerging technology with long-lasting applicability. The selection of plant species is the most significant aspect for successful phytoremediation. Aquatic plants hold steep e fficiency for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. Water hyacinth (*Eichhornia crassipes*), water lettuce (*Pistia stratiotes*) and Duck weed (*Lemna minor*) along with some other aquatic plants are prominent metal accumulator plants for the remediation of heavy-metal polluted water. The phytoremediation potential of the aquatic plant can be further enhanced by the application of innovative approaches in phytoremediation. A summarizing review regarding the use of aquatic plants in phytoremediation is gathered in order to present the broad applicability of phytoremediation.

**Keywords:** phytoremediation; heavy metal; aquatic plants; floating aquatic plants; wastewater treatment
