Use of microalgae in the bioremediation of water eutrophicated by domestic effluent in an urban pond in the Amazon

CASTRO-MENDES, Raize; NASCIMENTO, Renan G.; BANDEIRA, Maiby G. S.; PRIMEIRO, Luis J. O. G.; ARZÁBE, Alexander F.; SANTOS-SILVA, Edinaldo N. dos

doi:10.1590/1809-4392202303621

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Environmental Sciences | Original Article • Acta Amaz. 54 (3) • Jul-Sep 2024 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202303621 copy

Use of microalgae in the bioremediation of water eutrophicated by domestic effluent in an urban pond in the Amazon

Utilização de microalgas na biorremediação de águas eutrofizadas por efluente doméstico em um lago urbano na Amazônia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

The disposal of domestic effluents without an adequate treatment may increase nitrogen and phosphorus levels in natural water bodies. Bioremediation using microalgae is one of the solutions for treating effluents before disposal. We tested the effect of Scenedesmus acuminatus, Chlorella vulgaris and Planktothrix isothrix, as well as the effect of water dilution, on the nutrient concentration in water eutrophicated by domestic effluent in an urban lake in the Brazilian Amazon. We inoculated the three species in monoculture in undiluted water (PW0), and 50% (PW50) and 90% (PW90) diluted water. The experiment lasted 10 days and every 24 hours we removed a bottle of each treatment for nutrient analysis. The three species were equally efficient in removing ammonia in PW0. Nitrate removal rate was highest for Chlorella vulgaris in PW0, and higher for C. vulgaris and P. isothrix in PW50 and PW90. Orthophosphate removal efficiency was higher for S. acuminatus and C. vulgaris in PW0, equally efficient for the three species in PW50, and higher for C. vulgaris and P. isothrix in PW90. We concluded that the three species of microalgae tested are efficient in removing ammonia. Scenedesmus acuminatus was not an ideal species for nitrate removal. Planktothrix isothrix was efficient in removing nutrients when domestic wastewater is diluted. Chlorella vulgaris was efficient in removing nutrients from domestic wastewater whether diluted or not.

KEYWORDS:
cyanobacteria; chlorophytes; nutrient removal; phytoplankton; wastewater treatment

Dilution level	Filtered pond water (mL)	Distilled water (mL)	Inoculant concentrate (mL)
Scenedesmus acuminatus
PW0	873	0	27
PW50	436.5	436.5	27
PW90	87.3	785.7	27
Chlorella vulgaris
PW0	800	0	100
PW50	400	400	100
PW90	80	720	100
Planktothrix isothrix
PW0	821	0	79
PW50	410.5	410.5	79
PW90	82.1	738.9	79
Control
PW0	900	0	0
PW50	450	450	0
PW90	90	810	0

Wastewater	Nutrient	RE (%)
Wastewater	Nutrient	S. acuminatus	C. vulgaris	P. isothrix
PW0	NH₄ ⁺ - N	100	100	78.6
	NO₃ ^- - N	0	100	0
	PO₄ ^3- - P	100	100	12.9
PW50	NH₄ ⁺ - N	0	90	69.4
	NO₃ ^- - N	18	98.7	93.3
	PO₄ ^3- - P	100	99.3	82.4
PW90	NH₄ ⁺ - N	0	63.5	43
	NO₃ ^- - N	0	91.4	98.4
	PO₄ ^3- - P	0	100	100

Treatment	Pillai’s trace	F	DF	P value
PW0 (SA, CV, PI)	0.606	3.37	9.120	<0.001
PW50 (SA, CV, PI)	0.949	6.17	9.120	<0.001
PW90 (SA, CV, PI)	0.855	5.32	9.120	<0.001

Treatment	Nutrient	Sum of squares	DF	Mean of squares	F	P	Post hoc Tukey test
PW0 (SA, CV, PI)	Ammonia	27.084	3	9.0281	5.57	0.003	CV < (SA = PI = CT)
	Nitrate	0.169	3	0.0562	2.00	0.130
	Orthophosphate	2.595	3	0.8651	5.18	0.004	CV < (SA = PI= CT)
Residuals	Ammonia	64.884	40	1.6221
	Nitrate	1.126	40	0.0282
	Orthophosphate	6.679	40	0.1670
PW50 (SA, CV, PI)	Ammonia	169.6273	3	56.54244	51.13	<0.001	SA > PI = (CV = CT)
	Nitrate	0.0232	3	0.00775	1.31	0.284
	Orthophosphate	1.4328	3	0.47759	5.50	0.003	(SA = CT) > (CV = PI)
Residuals	Ammonia	44.2334	40	1.10584
	Nitrate	0.2364	40	0.00591
	Orthophosphate	3.4714	40	0.08678
PW90 (SA, CV, PI)	Ammonia	152.95173	3	50.98391	37.64	<0.001	SA > (CV = PI = CT)
	Nitrate	0.00430	3	0.00143	1.08	0.369
	Orthophosphate	7.35891	3	2.45297	55.20	<0.001	SA > (CV = PI= CT)
Residuals	Ammonia	54.18537	40	1.35463
	Nitrate	0.05319	40	0.00133
	Orthophosphate	1.77763	40	0.04444

Nutrient	Removal efficiency (%)				Period (days)	Wastewater type	Reference
Nutrient	Scenedesmus sp.	Chlorella sp.	Scenedesmus acuminatus	Chlorella vulgaris	Period (days)	Wastewater type	Reference
NH₄ ⁺	na	n.a	100	63.5 - 100	10	Domestic	This study
	na	82.4	na	na	10	Domestic	Wang et al. (2009Wang, L.; Min, M.; Li, Y.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Ruan, R. 2009. Cultivation of green algae Chlorella sp. in different wastewaters from municipal wastewater treatment plant. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 162: 1174-1186. )
	na	44.4 - 45.1	na	na	12	Industrial	Lim et al. (2010Lim, S.-L.; Chu, W.-L.; Phang, S.-M. 2010. Use of Chlorella vulgaris for bioremediation of textile wastewater. Biresource Technology 101: 7314-7322. )
	na	98	na	na	24	Municipal	Li et al. (2013Li, C.; Yang, H.; Li, Y.; Cheng, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, L.; Wang, W. 2013. Novel bioconversions of municipal effluent and CO2 into protein riched Chlorella vulgaris biomass. Bioresource Technology 132: 171-177. )
	na	100	na	na	10	Municipal	Ebrahimian et al. (2014Ebrahimian, A.; Kariminia, H.R.; Vosoughi, M. 2014. Lipid production in mixotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in a mixture of primary and secondary municipal wastewater. Renewable Energy 71: 502-508. )
	98	92.3	na	na	20	Domestic	Guerrero-Cabrera et al. (2014Guerrero-Cabrera, L.; Rueda, J.A.; García-Lozano, H.; Navarro, A.K. 2014. Cultivation of Monoraphidium sp., Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. algae in batch culture using Nile tilapia effluent. Bioresource Technology 161: 455-460. )
	95	na	na	na	16	Domestic	Wong et al. (2015Wong, Y.K.; Yung, K.K.L.; Tsang, Y.F.; Xia, Y.; Wang, L.; Ho, K.C. 2015. Scenedesmus quadricauda for nutrient removal and lipid production in wastewater. Water Environment Research 87: 2037-2044. doi.org/10.2175/106143015x14362865227193 https://doi.org/10.2175/106143015x143628... )
	70-98	na	na	na	7	Domestic	Nayak et al. (2016Nayak, M.; Karemore, A.; Sen, R. 2016. Performance evaluation of microalgae for concomitant wastewater bioremediation, CO2 biofixation and lipid biosynthesis for biodiesel application. Algal Research 16: 216-223.)
	85.6	na	na	na	25	Tannery	Da Fontoura et al. (2017Da Fontoura, J.T.; Rolim, G.S.; Farenzena, M.; Gutterres, M. 2017. Influence of light intensity and tannery wastewater concentration on biomass production and nutrient removal by microalgae Scenedesmus sp. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 111: 355-362. )
	>97	na	na	na	16	Domestic	Oliveira et al. (2018Oliveira, G.A.; Carissimi, E.; Monje-Ramírez, I.; Velasquez-Orta, S.B.; Rodrigues, R.T.; Ledesma, M.T.O. 2018. Comparison between coagulation-flocculation and ozone-flotation for Scenedesmus microalgal biomolecule recovery and nutrient removal from wastewater in a high-rate algal pond. Bioresource Technology 259: 334-342. )
	81.9	na	na	na	14	Municipal	Ansari et al. (2019Ansari, F.A.; Ravindran, B.; Gupta, S. K.; Nasr, M.; Rawat, I.; Bux, F. 2019. Techno-economic estimation of wastewater phycoremediation and environmental benefits using Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae. Journal of Environmental Management 240: 293-302. )
	na	93.6	na	na	10	Aquaculture	Hesni et al. (2020Hesni, M.A.; Hedayati, A.; Qadermarzi, A.; Pouladi, M.; Zangiabadi, S.; Naqshbandi, N. 2020. Using Chlorella vulgaris and iron oxide nanoparticles in a designed bioreactor for aquaculture effluents purification. Aquacultural Engineering 90: 102069. )
	93.1	na	na	na	10	Domestic	Wang et al. (2022Wang, Q.; Wang, X.; Hong, Y.; Liu, X.; Zhao, G.; Zhang, H.; Zhai, Q. 2022. Microalgae cultivation in domestic wastewater for wastewater treatment and high value-added production: Species selection and comparison. Biochemical Engineering Journal 185: 1-9. doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2022.108493 https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.20... )
	na	>50	na	na	10	Textile	Wu et al. (2020Wu, J.Y.; Lay, C.H.; Chiong, M.C.; Chew, K.W.; Chen, C.C.; Wu, S.Y.; et al. 2020. Immobilized Chlorella species mixotrophic cultivation at various textile wastewater concentrations. Journal of Water Process Engineering 38: 101609. )
	30	na	na	na	14	Domestic	Thangam et al. (2021Thangam, K.R.; Santhiya, A.; Sri, S.R.A.; MubarakAli, D.; Karthikumar, S.; Kumar, R.S.; et al. 2021. Bio-refinery approaches based concomitant microalgal biofuel production and wastewater treatment. Science of the Total Environment 785: 147267. )
	71.8	na	na	na	10	Swine	Zhao et al. (2022Zhao, G.; Wang, X.; Hong, Y.; Liu, X.; Wang, Q.; Zhai, Q.; Zhang, H. 2022. Attached cultivation of microalgae on rational carriers for swine wastewater treatment and biomass harvesting. Bioresource Technology 351: 127014. )
NO₃ ^-	na	na	18	91.4 - 100	10	Domestic	This Study
	na	62.5	na	na	10	Domestic	Wang et al. (2009Wang, L.; Min, M.; Li, Y.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Ruan, R. 2009. Cultivation of green algae Chlorella sp. in different wastewaters from municipal wastewater treatment plant. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 162: 1174-1186. )
	na	82	na	na	10	Municipal	Ebrahimian et al. (2014Ebrahimian, A.; Kariminia, H.R.; Vosoughi, M. 2014. Lipid production in mixotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in a mixture of primary and secondary municipal wastewater. Renewable Energy 71: 502-508. )
	70-98	na	na	na	7	Domestic	Nayak et al. (2016Nayak, M.; Karemore, A.; Sen, R. 2016. Performance evaluation of microalgae for concomitant wastewater bioremediation, CO2 biofixation and lipid biosynthesis for biodiesel application. Algal Research 16: 216-223.)
	65	na	na	na	10	Industrial	Usha et al. (2016Usha, M.T.; Sarat Chandra, T.; Sarada, R.; Chauhan, V.S. 2016. Removal of nutrients and organic pollution load from pulp and paper mill effluent by microalgae in outdoor open pond. Bioresource Technology 214: 856-860. )
	100	na	na	na	14	Municipal	Ansari et al. (2019Ansari, F.A.; Ravindran, B.; Gupta, S. K.; Nasr, M.; Rawat, I.; Bux, F. 2019. Techno-economic estimation of wastewater phycoremediation and environmental benefits using Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae. Journal of Environmental Management 240: 293-302. )
	na	92.2	na	na	10	Aquaculture	Hesni et al. (2020Hesni, M.A.; Hedayati, A.; Qadermarzi, A.; Pouladi, M.; Zangiabadi, S.; Naqshbandi, N. 2020. Using Chlorella vulgaris and iron oxide nanoparticles in a designed bioreactor for aquaculture effluents purification. Aquacultural Engineering 90: 102069. )
	71.2	na	na	na	14	Domestic	Thangam et al. (2021Thangam, K.R.; Santhiya, A.; Sri, S.R.A.; MubarakAli, D.; Karthikumar, S.; Kumar, R.S.; et al. 2021. Bio-refinery approaches based concomitant microalgal biofuel production and wastewater treatment. Science of the Total Environment 785: 147267. )
	na	93	na	na	13	Municipal	Pooja et al. (2022Pooja, K.; Priyanka, V.; Rao, B.C.S.; Raghavender, V. 2022. Cost-effective treatment of sewage wastewater using microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and its application as bio-fertilizer. Energy Nexus 7: 100-122. )
PO₄ ^3-	na	na	100	99.3 - 100	10	Domestic	This Study
	na	90.6	na	na	10	Domestic	Wang et al. (2009Wang, L.; Min, M.; Li, Y.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Ruan, R. 2009. Cultivation of green algae Chlorella sp. in different wastewaters from municipal wastewater treatment plant. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 162: 1174-1186. )
	na	33.1 - 33.3	na	na	12	Industrial	Lim et al. (2010Lim, S.-L.; Chu, W.-L.; Phang, S.-M. 2010. Use of Chlorella vulgaris for bioremediation of textile wastewater. Biresource Technology 101: 7314-7322. )
	90	80	na	na	20	Domestic	Guerrero-Cabrera et al. (2014Guerrero-Cabrera, L.; Rueda, J.A.; García-Lozano, H.; Navarro, A.K. 2014. Cultivation of Monoraphidium sp., Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. algae in batch culture using Nile tilapia effluent. Bioresource Technology 161: 455-460. )
	90	na	na	na	16	Domestic	Wong et al. (2015Wong, Y.K.; Yung, K.K.L.; Tsang, Y.F.; Xia, Y.; Wang, L.; Ho, K.C. 2015. Scenedesmus quadricauda for nutrient removal and lipid production in wastewater. Water Environment Research 87: 2037-2044. doi.org/10.2175/106143015x14362865227193 https://doi.org/10.2175/106143015x143628... )
	70-98	na	na	na	7	Domestic	Nayak et al. (2016Nayak, M.; Karemore, A.; Sen, R. 2016. Performance evaluation of microalgae for concomitant wastewater bioremediation, CO2 biofixation and lipid biosynthesis for biodiesel application. Algal Research 16: 216-223.)
	71.2	na	na	na	10	Industrial	Usha et al. (2016Usha, M.T.; Sarat Chandra, T.; Sarada, R.; Chauhan, V.S. 2016. Removal of nutrients and organic pollution load from pulp and paper mill effluent by microalgae in outdoor open pond. Bioresource Technology 214: 856-860. )
	na	>99	na	na	10	Municipal	Ge et al. (2018Ge, S.; Qiu, S.; Tremblay, D.; Viner, K.; Champagne, P.; Jessop, P.G. 2018. Centrate wastewater treatment with Chlorella vulgaris: Simultaneous enhancement of nutrient removal, biomass and lipid production. Chemical Engineering Journal 342: 310-320. )
	>97	na	na	na	16	Domestic	Oliveira et al. (2018Oliveira, G.A.; Carissimi, E.; Monje-Ramírez, I.; Velasquez-Orta, S.B.; Rodrigues, R.T.; Ledesma, M.T.O. 2018. Comparison between coagulation-flocculation and ozone-flotation for Scenedesmus microalgal biomolecule recovery and nutrient removal from wastewater in a high-rate algal pond. Bioresource Technology 259: 334-342. )
	4.7	na	na	na	14	Municipal	Ansari et al. (2019Ansari, F.A.; Ravindran, B.; Gupta, S. K.; Nasr, M.; Rawat, I.; Bux, F. 2019. Techno-economic estimation of wastewater phycoremediation and environmental benefits using Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae. Journal of Environmental Management 240: 293-302. )
	na	89.2	na	na	10	Aquaculture	Hesni et al. (2020Hesni, M.A.; Hedayati, A.; Qadermarzi, A.; Pouladi, M.; Zangiabadi, S.; Naqshbandi, N. 2020. Using Chlorella vulgaris and iron oxide nanoparticles in a designed bioreactor for aquaculture effluents purification. Aquacultural Engineering 90: 102069. )
	89.6	na	na	na	14	Domestic	Thangam et al. (2021Thangam, K.R.; Santhiya, A.; Sri, S.R.A.; MubarakAli, D.; Karthikumar, S.; Kumar, R.S.; et al. 2021. Bio-refinery approaches based concomitant microalgal biofuel production and wastewater treatment. Science of the Total Environment 785: 147267. )

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[1] *Corresponding author: raize.mendes@gmail.com