Phycoremediation: An Advanced Treatment Approach for Domestic Wastewater

Conventional municipal wastewater leads to sludge generation leading to additional treatment costs. In addition, the secondary treatment is not efficient in removing nutrients, which calls for additional treatment costs associated with the tertiary treatment. Incorporating the tertiary treatment will affect the overall economics of the municipalities. Thus, the present study was performed to study the impact of phycoremediation on treating raw domestic wastewater. Different microalgal concentrations were operated at 11 h contact period. C. vulgaris was used as a microalgal species for the study. Various physicochemical parameters were analyzed to assess the working of the microalgal system. Among the different microalgal concentrations studied, 30% concentration had the best reduction, with >90% reductions for NH₃-N and PO₄-P and >85% reductions for COD and BOD. The study revealed the benefits of the phycoremediation technique, which can be an eco-friendly and practical solution to the challenges of the conventional treatment system.