The removal of nutrients and organics by activated algae

Abstract Eutrophication is a historical as well as contemporary problem facing the environmental health engineer. The problem of eutrophication has been attributed to the abundance of nutrients available for algal proliferation. Specifically, the nutrients identified as the major etiological elements in combination with other factors, are nitrogen and phosphorus. This research developed and evaluated a process by which nitrogen and phosphorus could be removed from waste water. The nutrient removal process was entitled “Activated Algae” and was developed for the removal of organic wastes as well as nutrient elements. The underlying theory for this nutrient removal process is that of an algal—bacterial symbiosis. The main objective of this study was the determination of fundamental operating parameters such as a light-dark cycle, detention period, light intensity, and biomass concentration, which engender an effective nutrient and organic waste removal process. The results of this research indicate that the activated algae system is an effective nutrient and organic waste removal process, which possesses the property of bioflocculation that produces a relatively solids-free effluent. The development of a workable field-size activated algae system is very much dependent upon pilot plant research, which has to be founded on fundamental operating precepts developed at the laboratory scale. Thus, it is at the laboratory scale that this research attains its full significance in the systems approach to the development of a field-size activated algae process.