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.