The use of algae in the removal of Cd and Cu in the process of wastewater recovery

The research work concerned initiating metal biosorption by living algae by means of administering cadmium and copper. The mixed population of green algae used in the study was taken from a natural reservoir. The process was evaluated based on changes in metal concentrations in biomass when accurate doses of metals were spiked into the culture and for different reaction times. Changes of Cd(II) and Cu(II) concentrations in the culture medium were also analyzed. The study showed that mixed algal population was good biosorbent of Cu and Cd ions. It was observed that spiking of different doses of cadmium (II) and copper (II) considerably affected the effectiveness and efficiency of sorption. The use of similar concentrations of Cu(II) and Cd (II) ions during the experiments allowed one to compare the general effectiveness of sorption of both metals. The results at high contents of heavy metals (4.1mg Cd/dm(3) and 4.3mg Cu/dm(3)) were better for copper. The effectiveness of the process was at the level of 70-85%, whereas for cadmium it was 40-70%.