Water fern(Azolla filiculoides lam.) has been assessed for nitrogen and phosphorus removal from surface water at different P levels during low temperature season.The results showed that the plants had a good capability to remove NH 4-N

NO-3-N

and P from water at different phosphorus levels.At the end of experiment(grown for 16 days)

the removal rates of NH 4-N

NO3-N were above 94.04% and 95.46%

respectively.The removal rates of different P varied with initial P pollution levels

and reached by 87.00%

96.75%

and 99.00% for initial P levels of 0.1

0.4 and 1.6 mg P/L

respectively.Plant growth increased with increasing P pollution levels in the water body.Plant dry matter yield

total N

and total P concentrations in the plant increased with increasing of P levels in the waters.The results showed that Azolla filiculoides can be a good candidate for phytoremediation of eutrophicated surface water.