MICROALGAL-BACTERIAL CONSORTIA: AN ALLURING AND NOVEL APPROACH FOR DOMESTIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT

• Main Authors: Nandini Moondra, Namrata D Jariwala, Robin A Christian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Zibeline International 2020-10-01
• Series: Water Conservation and Management
• Subjects: biological treatment; phycoremediation; c. vulgaris; organic matter; nutrient removal; eco-friendly
• Online Access: https://www.watconman.org/archives-pdf/1wcm2020/1wcm2020-51-56.pdf
• ISSN: 2523-5664; 2523-5672

The algal-bacterial process has received more attention in the present scenario as a new low-cost method towards pollutant removal from wastewater because symbiotic relationship between algae and bacteria is efficient when compared to traditional secondary treatments. The present work evaluated the optimum concentration of microalgal-bacterial consortia for significant reductions in physicochemical parameters of raw domestic wastewater. In the study, three different concentrations (20%, 30% and 40%) of microalgal-bacterial consortia were studied at 8 hours and 16 hours HRT. Among the different concentrations of consortia studied, 30% consortia gave maximum removal efficiency at both the HRTs. The maximum removal efficiency of phosphate, ammonia, BOD and COD was about 99.79%, 94.85%, 89.02% and 88.96%, respectively, at 8 hours HRT. However, at 16 hours, HRT maximum removal efficiency observed was 97.40%, 94.05%, 83.52% and 88.40% for phosphate, ammonia, BOD and COD respectively. The study depicts that microalgal-bacterial consortia can efficiently remediate nutrients and organic matter from domestic wastewater in both cases when sunlight was ample and even with minimal / no sunlight; hence this system can work effectively throughout the day with much lesser HRT and higher removal efficiency.