Resumen
The study evaluated the performance of the species Typha domingensis Pers and Pontederia parviflora Alexander in wastewater treatment at the pilot scale. Six units of each species were built. Analyses were performed in March, June, July and November in batch system with sampling every 12 hours and a hydraulic retention time of 48 hours. Tests for performance between species and for influence of temperature were performed by analysis of variance, factorial ANOVA and principal component analysis (PCA). The evaluation of treatment performance was from physical and chemical parameters (temperature, potential of hydrogen, alkalinity, suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand) in the influent and effluent systems. The results indicated no significant difference in the performance of the species but emphasized the interference of temperature on nutrient removal capacity of both systems. The best removal efficiencies were found for volatile suspended solids (83-94 and 80-97%) and COD (38-70 and 39-74%) for T. domingensis and P. parviflora respectively, in periods of low and high temperatures.