Factors influencing luxury uptake of phosphorus by microalgae in waste stabilization ponds

Phosphorus removal in waste stabilization ponds (WSP) is highly variable, but the reasons for this are not well understood. Luxury uptake of phosphorus by microalgae has been studied in natural systems such as lakes but not under the conditions found in WSP. This work reports on the effects of phosphate concentration, light intensity, and temperature on luxury uptake of phosphorus by WSP microalgae in continuous culture bioreactors. Increasing temperature had a statistically significant positive effect on intracellular acid-insoluble polyphosphate concentration. It is likely that elevated temperature increased the rate of polyphosphate accumulation, but because the biomass was not starved of phosphate, the stored acid-insoluble polyphosphate was not utilized. Increasing light intensity had no effect on acid-insoluble polyphosphate but had a negative effect on the acid-soluble polyphosphate. A possible explanation for this is that the faster growth rate at high light intensity results in this form of polyphosphate being utilized by the cells for synthesis of cellular constituents at a rate that exceeds replenishment. The variability in the phosphorus content of the microalgal biomass shows that with this new understanding of the luxury uptake mechanism there is the potential to optimize WSP for biological phosphorus removal.