Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Pablo Borbon Main II, Alangilan Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture & Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118

The Use of Water Hyacinth Turned Charcoal as Organic Fertilizer

Bayani, Pamela Airenc

Cosico, Paulene

Esmeria, Jon Vaughn

Lapitan, Hillary Gwyneth

Pawang, Christan Jhay

FE-2103

Engr. Nico John Abratique

December 2021
 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Pablo Borbon Main II, Alangilan Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture & Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118

ABSTRACT

Making organic compost is one of the most cost-effective options and can be a long-term

solution. The dominant explanation for this research is to increase the use of organic fertilizer with

the help of water hyacinth turned into charcoal. Eichornia crassipes, commonly known as water

hyacinth, is an invasive aquatic plant that flourishes in tropical and subtropical environments and

has become a major pest. Previous researches have primarily relied on water hyacinth that can

absorb large amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients and elements. The ability of

water hyacinth to suck up heavy metals has led to the notion that it could be used to clean industrial

effluent from water. We use charcoal as organic fertilizer to increase the correlation between water

hyacinth and charcoal and it's contribution to the environment. In the tropics, water hyacinth is

found in abundance in natural bodies of water. If it is allowed to spread unchecked, it can degrade

water quality and cause problems with water usage. Contrary to what has often been assumed, the

main problems arising from the growth of Water Hyacinths are (a) massive water loss through

evapotranspiration, which affects the water balance of large regions; (b) hindrance to water flow,

which causes sedimentation, flooding, and soil erosion; and (c) navigational hazard. Our findings

indicate that charcoal is a porous, fine-grained black carbon that is made from plant matter. It is

also harmless to plants. As a result, charcoal has a lot of microscopic pores which is, once the

placed in soil, the pores will allow air to seep into the soil. In addition, unlike any other organic

fertilizers, charcoal is extremely stable and it does not breakdown into carbon dioxide. As a result,

once applied, it will last for hundreds to thousands of years in the soil. With all of these things in

mind, the researchers will conduct a study on the use of water hyacinth turned charcoal as organic

fertilizer.
 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Pablo Borbon Main II, Alangilan Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture & Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Water Hyacinth

Any aquatic plant from the genus Eichhornia of the Pickerelweed family or

Pontederiaceae is called water hyacinth. Consisting of five species, the most commonly

known water hyacinth is E. crassipes and is the most widely distributed species

(Britannica, 2020). The plant is a monocotyledonous aquatic microphyte free-floating

weed with a beautiful collection of yellow and violet flowers, and rotund leaves.

Harmful Effects of Water Hyacinth

Due to the plant’s growth rate, water hyacinth is considered one of the problematic

plants with invasive characteristics (Akter, 2018). Water hyacinth can infer dams, lakes,

and even irrigation channels in tropical and subtropical regions (Carnaje, Talagon,

Peralta, Shah & Ferreriro, 2018).

The plant’s ability to adapt easily to any body of water causes a major threat to the

indigent aquatic plants living there. If water hyacinth is not managed or control, it can

prevent the growth of the vital phytoplankton which will definitely affect all aquatic animals

living in that particular body of water. It can also block the natural flow of water which will

eventually lead to floods in places near the blocked waterways. (Carnaje, Talagon,

Peralta & Shah, 2018). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

States, water hyacinth is considered the worst aquatic weed in the world. Problems fro

and soil erosion, m the growth of the said plant in thick mats are (a) water loss due to

evapotranspiration, which caused an imbalance of waters in entire regions; (b) soil

erosion and increase in sedimentation, due to it blocking the water flow; (c) obstruction of
 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Pablo Borbon Main II, Alangilan Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture & Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118

waterways; (d) economic loss, and change not only in the physical but also in chemical

properties of the bodies of water and environment the said plant invaded.

Uses of Water Hyacinth

In the research conducted by Comedis, Ayran, Camacho, De Leon & Segura

(2017), water hyacinth can be cleaned, dried, and be used as raw materials in creating

decorative containers. On the whole month of June 2016, an experiment to determine the

ability of water hyacinth in improving water quality on rivers like the Pasig River was

conducted by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (2016). The characteristic of the

plant to absorb nutrients was tested through Total Nitrogen (N), and Total Phosphorus

(P). It was later determined that the use of water hyacinth to improve water quality is a

viable low-cost treatment for the accumulation of heavy metals in the sampled river and

its tributaries. Furthermore, on a video reported by the Game Changer Philippines (2016),

water hyacinth can also be used as raw material in the creation of charcoal briquettes,

which is a livelihood for the people of Samakat (Samahang May Kapansanan ng Taguig).

Charcoal

Charcoal has been used since the earliest times for a wide range of purposes,

including medicine, art, and as fuel. It is an odorless and tasteless object that can take a

form of a fine black powder or black porous solid consisting of carbon, and ash which can

be obtained by removing any volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances

(Adbollahi & Hosseini, 2014). It is usually obtained from burning carbonaceous

substances with insufficient air like wood, peat, and cellulose (Phonpuak & Chindaprasirt,

2015).

There are many different areas charcoal can be applied to. In industry, it can be

used as a reducing agent in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, in the production of pure
 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Pablo Borbon Main II, Alangilan Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture & Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118

silicon for semiconductors, and in the production of glass, paints, plastics, and electrodes.

In agriculture, charcoals can be used as fertilizer in crop production and as a feed additive

in animal husbandry. While in construction, it can be used as an insulating material due

to its ability to absorb moisture from the air (Green Power, n.d).

Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers

Organic farming involves the careful handling of the environment and its resources.

Organic farming can be one of the solutions to the problems and challenges we are

currently facing. Like in the nutrition system, organic fertilizer plays a significant role in by

simply increasing soil productivity and nutrients. The researchers come up with organic

farming due to the bad effects of inorganic fertilizers (Klagenfurt, 2017).

Nitrogen is needed in the early stages of development to encourage good strong

seedling and plant development (Yara, 2018). The atmosphere contains about 78 percent

nitrogen, explains the International Plant Nutrition Institute. However, this atmospheric

form is not usable by plants. Organic fertilizer provides nitrogen in a usable form, which

will help improve neither plant growth while neither burning root snor destroying beneficial

micro-organisms in the soil (Rogers, 2017).