This research shows the environmental benefits of implementing floating garden designs in ponds and lakes as floating treatment wetlands (FTWs). Research conducted by Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Floating Island International, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development indicates successful remediation and removal of nutrient runoff from agricultural production, wastewater treatment, and human and animal waste. Plants with different rooting depths and surface areas can phytoaccumulate phosphorus and nitrogen compounds. Like wetlands, FTWs create an environment for microbial life around the rhizosphere of plants and the island substrate, generating colonies of bacteria called biofilm that digest nutrients from water or sediment. Natural wetland habitats, one of humanity's most efficient biofilters, have been destroyed around the United States to make room for farmland and cities. This research has been aggregated to fuel an FTW design on a small farm in Waynesville, Ohio, and other lakes and ponds for people that this research may inspire.
