Improving water quality is essential for many cities near bodies of water as scientists look for solutions to tackle pollution and habitat loss due to urbanization. Researchers from Illinois State University observed how the Chicago River's natural wildlife habitat could be restored with floating gardens.
The findings will be presented at this year's Geological Society of America meeting, demonstrating the impact of water gardens on water quality. The pilot project by Urban Rivers, locally called the Wild Mile, began in 2017 with the intention of creating a mile-long floating garden using hydroponic methods.
According to the project, the Chicago River wildlife needs a better habitat, including animals such as fish, ducks, and turtles. Aside from the locals and tourists enjoying the scenery, the garden will also educate the community about the environment and be part of the science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) curriculum.
Building Floating Gardens
The gardens were built on floating structures made of plastic caging and coconut husks that can withstand all the seasons throughout the year. The garden is also soilless as the hydroponic system enables the plants to grow their routes directly into the water.
At first, the floating gardens were part of beautifying the city. Eventually, researchers observed that it was "the perfect opportunity to see if there's an impact on water quality," said Abigail Heath. She will be presenting the team's paper during the online conference.
Previous research has looked into the impact that floating gardens have on water quality, such as wastewater treatment. This is the first time that a floating garden was observed in moving water while aligning with Urban Rivers' goals of improving water quality.
Urban Rivers has already raised more than twice its financial goal of the floating garden. Every $50 donation is equivalent to one foot of the garden. The ultimate goal is for the garden to become an urban wildlife sanctuary.
They have also filled the garden with native wetland and prairie plant species as the foundation of the floating islands. Since the first 50 square feet of the floating gardens were installed in 2013 by Urban Rivers co-founder Joshua Yellin, there had been about a 100% increase in fish populations near the flora. The company is also working alongside the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to monitor fish populations and water quality.
Read Also: Soft Coral Garden, a First Habitat of Its Kind, Discovered in the Depths of Greenland's Waters
Improved Water Quality
Heath and the team collected water samples every week since 2018 to compare water quality upstream and downstream where the garden is installed along the shoreline. They focused on water nutrient concentrations including phosphate, chloride, sulfate, and nitrogen.
Results showed that nitrate levels decreased by 4.69 milligrams per liter upstream and 4.43 mg/L downstream. Phosphate levels had also decreased downstream of the floating garden.
Heath said that the small garden has already made a significant difference in water quality. The current floating garden can be used as a model to measure how larger gardens can also remedy bodies of water in other urban areas.
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