For the project titled “Community Water Stewardship:Replenishing Groundwater Resources in Lahore”, one of the identified replenishment methods included treatment of wastewater through Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW). For its installation, Manak village was found to have large sewage wastewater and rain fed ponds along with musty odor creating nuisance and posing a significant health risk to the community.

FTW was created by using floating mats that provide foundation for plants to grow. The aligned mats float on the surface of the water and allow plants’ roots to spread throughout creating a vast activated surface area for microbes to live. These plants then uptake pollutants as nutrients from the inland water body. The microorganisms growing on the plant root systems break down and consume organic matter in the water through microbial decomposition, hence, effectively removing the pollutants from the water body.