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CULTIVATION OF ALGAE TO REMOVE NUTRIENTS FROM TREATED WASTEWATER
Abstract
The Baltic Sea Region faces increasing pressure on water resources and ecosystems due to human activity, with nutrient rich treated wastewater discharges being a main cause of eutrophication. Combining algae-based nutrient removal with reclaimed wastewater reuse provides a sustainable solution to reduce pollution while allowing algal biomass recovery for further applications. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate possibilities to use algae cultivation as a tool for nutrient removal from treated wastewaters. Asterarcys quadricellulare was grown for 9 days in reclaimed wastewater at different concentrations (20%, 50%, 100%), tap water, and algae broth as control. The highest nutrient removal was achieved in 100% reclaimed wastewater at 90% removal of nitrogen by day 5 and >99% removal of phosphate by day 4. Thus, high efficiency of algae cultivation as a tool of nutrient removal has been demonstrated. Asterarcys quadricellulare biomass can be considered as a valuable resource for diverse applications. Extraction of lipophilic compounds and followed profiling using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection revealed high concentrations of heptacosene (14.6 - 0.49 mg/g extract), 1-hexacosanol (12.7 - 1.06 mg/g extract), and palmitic acid (11.7 - 0.95 mg/g extract). These findings suggest good prospects to use cultivation of algae as a tool for reclaimed wastewater reuse with simultaneous removal of nutrients and efficient production of algal biomass as a resource of lipids with prospective use as fuel.
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