Spirodela punctata 7776, the best duckweed strain in total protein production selected from in vitro screening experiments with synthetic swine lagoon water medium was examined for N and P recovery. It has shown a capability to grow in and to remove N and P from synthetic swine lagoon water with high N (240 mg NH4-N/1) and P (31.0 mg PO4-P/1) levels. A lag period of approximately 96 h was observed before the duckweed started to grow. During the lag period, utilization of N and P by the duckweed was very slow. The rates of N and P uptake, and duckweed growth increased with the increase of the initial N and P concentrations in the medium. The highest rates of N and P uptakes, and duckweed growth observed in this study were 0.955, 0.129 mg/l-h, and 1.33 g/m(2)-h(or 31.92 g/m(2)-day), respectively. The N:P ratio in swine lagoon water is adequate for growing the duckweed.