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Phycoremediation of Municipal Wastewater by the Cold‐Adapted Microalga Monoraphidium sp. Dek19
Author(s) -
Hage Adam,
Luckett Nolan,
Holbrook Gabriel P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143017x15131012188060
Subject(s) - aeration , effluent , wastewater , nitrate , photosynthesis , biomass (ecology) , algae , productivity , phosphate , pulp and paper industry , sewage treatment , environmental science , botany , chemistry , environmental engineering , biology , ecology , biochemistry , macroeconomics , engineering , economics
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 °C than at 22 °C, 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.