Algal bioremediation is a new means of remediation that is being researched due to its beneficial by-products. In this ppt, we will be briefing on the subject with the help of 2 case studies.

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ALGAL BIOREMEDIATION
PRESENTATION BY- Aditi Kar
COURSE- Environmental
Microbiology
ROLL.No- A0999321017

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CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• ALGAL BIOREMEDIATION
• CASE STUDY
• ADVANTAGES
• DISADVANTAGES
• FUTURE PERSPECTIVE
• REFERENCES

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INTRODUCTION
• Remediate means to solve a problem and bioremediation means to solve
environmental issues using biological means like bacteria, fungi, algae and
plants.

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ALGAL BIOREMEDIATION
The use of live algae to remove excess dissolved nutrients from aquaculture
effluents is known as algal bioremediation/phycoremediation.
CAUSE-
• Due to industrialization and other human activities, freshwater sources have
become heavily contaminated.
WHY USE PHYCOREMEDIATION-
• It is widely accepted as an efficient and cost-effective wastewater treatment
method.
• It is a clean and sustainable means to get rid of water pollutants, especially
heavy metals.

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CASE STUDY 1
• In a study, the green microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, was utilized for the
treatment of effluents of a leather-processing unit, situated at Ranipet,
Tamil Nadu, India.
• The raw effluent contains many residual pigments, chemicals, and
heavy metals.
• After treatment, total dissolved solids (TDS), an important physical
parameter of effluents, was decreased by about 21%.
• Chemical parameters, like calcium and magnesium levels were reduced
by 82% and 85% respectively.
• BOD and COD reduction levels were almost similar, approximately 50%.

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CASE STUDY 2
• A project in Latin America evaluates the ability of two strains of algae
(Chlorella and Scenedesmus sp.) and one cyanobacteria (Hapalosyphon sp.)
from the INNOValgae collection were used in this study.
• These strains were previously isolated from thermal springs near Cucuta
(Norte de Santander, Colombia).
• They possess the capacity to grow in contaminated waters and remove
excess pesticides and other nutrients present in runoff water from paddy
fields.
• After 20 days of culture in the agricultural runoff, showed that the NO3
concentration can be reduced up to 88% by Scenedesmus sp., while
Chlorella sp. and Hapalosyphon sp. removed up to 85% of the total NO3

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ADVANTAGES
• Greater production of biomass
• High ability to accumulate, detoxify, or degrade xenobiotics and
pollutants.
• Biomass produced in bioremediation could be used as biofuel.
• It is a multipurpose solution
• No requirement for arable land.
• Large diversity of marine algae and ready availability of seawater.
• Less to no energy is requirement

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DISADVANTAGES
• The process is slow.
• Scalability problem.
• Inherently difficult to maintain monoculture.
• Need proper environmental conditions and exposure to
light.
• May need periodic cleaning due to biofilm production.
• Needs a lot of research and expertise to become fully
functional.

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FUTURE PERSPECTIVE
• It has several advantages over normal bacterial-based bioremediation.
• Major advantage is the removal of CO2 and the production of oxygen under
light conditions.
• Have been identified as suitable vectors for detoxification and a low-cost
alternative to physicochemical treatment.
• Some of the techniques like HRAP have been justified for some practical
application in China and abroad, but limitations in a large scale exist.
• Studies have also shown constituents of algal cell wall such as alginate and
fucoidan are responsible for biosorption of heavy metal ions.

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REFERENCES
• Lawton, Rebecca J et al. “Algal bioremediation of waste waters from land-
based aquaculture using ulva: selecting target species and strains.” PloS one
vol. 8,10 e77344. 15 Oct. 2013, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077344
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324492336_Review_on_Challenge
s_and_Limitations_for_Algae-Based_Wastewater_Treatment
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128210147000113
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00279/full