Treatment efficacy of algae-based sewage treatment plants

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 185, pages7145–7164(2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Lagoons have been traditionally used in India for decentralized treatment of domestic sewage. These are cost effective as they depend mainly on natural processes without any external energy inputs. This study focuses on the treatment efficiency of algae-based sewage treatment plant (STP) of 67.65 million liters per day (MLD) capacity considering the characteristics of domestic wastewater (sewage) and functioning of the treatment plant, while attempting to understand the role of algae in the treatment. STP performance was assessed by diurnal as well as periodic investigations of key water quality parameters and algal biota. STP with a residence time of 14.3 days perform moderately, which is evident from the removal of total chemical oxygen demand (COD) (60 %), filterable COD (50 %), total biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (82 %), and filterable BOD (70 %) as sewage travels from the inlet to the outlet. Furthermore, nitrogen content showed sharp variations with total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal of 36 %; ammonium N (NH4-N) removal efficiency of 18 %, nitrate (NO3-N) removal efficiency of 22 %, and nitrite (NO2-N) removal efficiency of 57.8 %. The predominant algae are euglenoides (in facultative lagoons) and chlorophycean members (maturation ponds). The drastic decrease of particulates and suspended matter highlights heterotrophy of euglenoides in removing particulates.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and the Indian Institute of Science for financial and infrastructural support. We thank Raykar (IAS) for permitting us to study the wastewater system dynamics in greater detail. Subramanya and Vishwanath of the MCC provided us with valuable information to help us plan this study carefully. Kulkarni (Organic Solutions), Bhanuprasad (Bhageerath), and Vagesh (Fermenta Biotech) provided help and logistics during our detailed on-site sampling processes. Himansu, Yellappa, and Sudarshan helped us during our initial diurnal studies on the site.

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Affiliations

  1. Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Durga Madhab Mahapatra & T. V. Ramachandra

  2. Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Durga Madhab Mahapatra, H. N. Chanakya & T. V. Ramachandra

  3. Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    H. N. Chanakya & T. V. Ramachandra

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  1. Durga Madhab Mahapatra
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  2. H. N. Chanakya
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  3. T. V. Ramachandra
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Correspondence to T. V. Ramachandra.

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Mahapatra, D.M., Chanakya, H.N. & Ramachandra, T.V. Treatment efficacy of algae-based sewage treatment plants. Environ Monit Assess 185, 7145–7164 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3090-x

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Keywords

  • Algae
  • Sewage treatment
  • Euglena
  • Facultative pond
  • Nutrient
  • Carbon capture
  • Biovolume