Evaluation of microalgal consortia for treatment of primary treated sewage effluent and biomass production

The present investigation was aimed towards analyzing the potential of consortia of native filamentous microalgal strains (MC2), native unicellular microalgal strains (MC3), and selected microalgae from germplasm (MC1) in terms of nutrient removal, water quality improvement, and biomass production using primary treated sewage water. Highest NO3-N (90 %) and PO4-P (97.8 %) removal was obtained with MC2-inoculated sewage water. Highest decrease in total dissolved solids to 806 from 1,120 mg L-1 and highest increase in dissolved oxygen of 9.0 from 0.4 mg L-1 were obtained using MC2-inoculated sewage water on the sixth day. The biomass production was also highest in MC2 (1.07 g L-1) followed by MC1 and MC3 (0.90 and 0.94 g L-1, respectively) on the sixth day. The consortium of filamentous strains from native environment not only proved promising in nutrient removal efficiency but also led to enhanced biomass. The present study highlighted the utility of such a consortium for sewage wastewater treatment and the promise of sewage water as a growth medium for biomass production.