Phycoremediation of Municipal Wastewater by the Cold‐Adapted Microalga Monoraphidium sp. Dek19

Abstract

Present municipal wastewater treatment technologies often require substantial energy inputs, and fail to completely remove nitrate and phosphate before discharging effluent. In contrast, using the cold-adapted oleaginous microalga Monoraphidium sp. Dek 19 decreased levels of both these polluting ions to 0 mg/dL. Concurrent biomass production was greater at 10 8C than at 22 8C, showing that phycoremediation occurred at low temperatures previously thought to be unsuitable for algal-based treatment. Algal growth with uptake of nitrate and phosphate required only short bursts of aeration to suspend cells and maintain CO 2 supply for photosynthesis. To save energy, culture aeration for 1 hour, 4 times per day, including during the dark cycle, yielded cell productivity and phycoremediation nearly equivalent to using 24-hour aeration. The authors conclude that Monoraphidium sp. Dek19 algae represent an economical effluent treatment at cool temperatures found in the high proportion of water resource recovery facilities in geographical areas experiencing cold winters. Water Environ. Res., 90, 1938Res., 90, (2018.

Optimization of chromium(VI) removal by indigenous microalga (Chlamydomonas sp.)‐based biosorbent using response surface methodology

“…A couple of studies has been conducted using custom‐made microalgae strains rather than exploring indigenous species to deal with the above problems (Lodi, Soletto, Solisio, & Converti, 2008). However, indigenous and adapted species have considerable advantages such as adaptation to the local climate and biota over custom‐made strains and genetically modified organisms (Hage, Luckett, & Holbrook, 2018; Wilkie, Edmundson, & Duncan, 2011). Till date, not many studies have focused on the use of indigenous microalgae species for chromium mitigation in the Ethiopian context.…”