0

Algal Bio-
Remediation

of Polluted
Water
SJWP Submission, 2017

Gilmer-Hill, Christopher
MI
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Abstract:

This experiment will investigate the effectiveness of bioremediation of saltwater using

marine algae. Specifically, the experiment will determine the effectiveness of the marine alga

Chaetomorpha sp. for biological removal of phosphate, nitrate, and metals (in this case, iron)

from a saltwater medium. Several samples of the algae will be cultured for 30 days in a medium

consisting of filtered seawater with added nitrate (potassium nitrate), phosphate (sodium

phosphate), and iron (Iron (III) Chloride). At the end of the culturing period, the nitrate and

phosphate will be measured via typical (i.e. pre-packaged and prepared) water quality tests using

a test kit; the iron content will be measured via titration. The results of this experiment will

likely prove most useful in the context of waste-water cleanup or pollution removal from water

that is to be discharged (into a river, etc.) On such source is agriculture, which can produce and

release excessive amounts of nitrates and phosphates via fertilizer runoff. Another source of

nitrate and phosphate pollution is aquaculture, especially on an industrial scale. In such cases,

algae could likely be used to absorb - and thus alleviate - large amount of nitrate and phosphate

pollution, as well as metals, that enter the environment. This reduction would prove valuable

because nitrate and phosphate can both contribute greatly to harmful algal blooms in waterways.

The use of algae to remove these pollutants would thus help to eliminate a major source of these

pollutants.
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Table of Contents:

Introduction: 3

Materials and Methods: 4

Results: 5

Conclusion: 7

Bibliography: 8
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Introduction

Pollution, particularly nutrient pollution, is a major environmental problem facing nearly

every body of water on the planet. Nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate can enter waterways

from a myriad of sources, and contribute to problems ranging from eutrophication to algal

blooms and mass fish dieoffs. Yet, these nutrient contaminants are almost inevitable:

anthropogenic nitrate and phosphate pollution could only be totally eliminated via a complete

end to fertilization and agriculture, an obvious impossibility. Food production via agriculture and

aquaculture comes at the cost of some degree of pollution; the effect of that pollution can be

devastating (Schwitzguebel et al). In order to balance environmental protection and sustainable

food production to provide for a growing population, new strategies and innovations are needed

that can reduce the nutrient impact of agriculture.

One promising means of minimizing nutrient introduction into the environment is

bioremediation. Bioremediation uses living organisms, often plants, to remove pollutants from

the environment. Algae in particular show some promise in this field: algal bioremediation has

the potential to remove many different types of pollutants fairly quickly and efficiently, without

needing large spaces or specific conditions to thrive (Lawton et al). Algae have been shown to be

especially effective at removing certain especially pernicious pollutants, including nitrate and

phosphate. One type of algae in particular, the green alga Chaetomorpha, has shown particular

promise in removing nitrate and phosphate, but remains understudied in the realm of

bioremediation (Lavery et al). To that end, this experiment investigated Chaetomorpha as a

bioremediation agent for water polluted with nitrate and phosphate.

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Materials and Methods

Materials:
Algae: Chaetomorpha sp.
Potassium nitrate, granular
Sodium phosphate
Trace metal solution (see chart)
Colorimeter
Accu-vac ampul tests: Nitrate and phosphate
Filtered seawater
LED lighting strip (1000 lumens/meter)

Methods
5 gallons of sterile, filtered seawater was mixed with 160 mg/l of nitrate and 34
mg/l of phosphate
Chaetomorpha algae was dried briefly, weighed, and separated into pieces of
varying mass
Chaetomorpha was cultured in nitrate/phosphate/trace metal enriched medium for
30 days
Samples of water treated with algae and untreated samples were tested for nitrate
and phosphate using Hach Accu-vac ampul tests (Diluted 100x)
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Results

Algae"(g)"vs"Final"Nitrate
180
160
140
Final"Nitrate" (mg/l)

120
100
80 y"=" 0.7155x2 + 20.075x"+"161.25
60 R"="0.99441
40
20
0
+2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Algae"(g)
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Algae"(g)"vs"Final"Phosphate
40

35
Final"Phosphate" (mg/l)

30

25

20

15

10
y"=" 0.0842x2 * 2.6633x"+"33.582
5 R"="0.99248
0
*2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Algae"(g)
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Conclusions:

The data for both PO4 and NO3 were analyzed via a t-test and a Pearson
Correlative test to determine the significance of the differences observed between the
control and experimental groups. A strong positive correlation between the presence of
algae and the rate of nitrate/phosphate removal indicates that Chaetomorpha is useful for
bioremediation of saltwater and removal of nitrate/phosphate. The p-values obtained
from 2-value t tests for nitrate and phosphate were both less than 0.0001; this indicates
that Chaetomorpha has a highly statistically significant effect on levels of nitrate and
phosphate in polluted water. Likewise, the strong correlation observed between the
amount of algae used and the amount of nitrate/phosphate used indicates that the algae
can perhaps best be modeled as a catalyst in a non-substrate-excess environment, in
which the substrate (nitrate/phosphate) is at least partially limiting. This inference is
further supported by the fact that the second derivative of the algae vs
phosphate/nitrate curves are always negative. This diminishing-returns scenario, in
which additional algae removes less and less marginal pollutant, indicates that nitrate and
phosphate were depleted over the course of the experiment, which in turn indicates that
the results of the experiment can be applied on a larger scale, since the algae have the
potential to remove more nitrate and phosphate than was removed in the experiment.
The results of this experiment have numerous applications, mostly relating to
pollution removal in waste water streams. One major application for algal bioremediation
is in aquaculture. Typical aquaculture setups release large amounts of nitrate and
phosphate as a result of the large number and high concentration of fish (Higgins et al;
Schwitzguebel et al). The nutrient-laden effluent from aquaculture has the potential to
cause environmental problems if it is discharged into waterways; for example, it may
contribute to eutrophication and/or algal blooms. Here, the applications of algal
bioremediation are twofold: not only could algae be used to remove nutrients from the
waste-water before discharge, it could also be used as part of a recirculating setup that
eliminates environmental contamination with nutrient-rich wastewater by recycling
bioremediated water back into the system (Barbu et al).
The results of this experiment indicate several potential areas for further research.
Algae have been shown to have potential in removing heavy metal pollution: thus, a
further experiment may investigate bioremediation of heavy metals (Mehta et al; Souza et
al). A further experiment may also investigate bioremediation under different
environmental conditions or with different kinds of algae in order to paint a clearer
picture of algaes role in bioremediation and solving the broader problem of nutrient
pollution in the worlds waterways.
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Bibliography:
Lawton, Rebecca J., et al. "Algal bioremediation of waste waters from land-based aquaculture
using Ulva: selecting target species and strains." PLoS One 8.10 (2013): e77344.
Schwitzgubel, Jean-Paul, and Hailong Wang. "Environmental impact of aquaculture and
countermeasures to aquaculture pollution in China." Environmental Science and
Pollution Research 14.7 (2007): 452-462.
Mehta, S. K., and J. P. Gaur. "Use of algae for removing heavy metal ions from wastewater:
progress and prospects." Critical reviews in biotechnology 25.3 (2005): 113-152.
Lavery, P. S., and A. J. McComb. "The nutritional eco-physiology of Chaetomorpha linum and
Ulva rigida in Peel Inlet, Western Australia." Botanica Marina 34.3 (1991): 251-260.
Marian Barbu, Emil Ceang and Sergiu Caraman (2016). Water Quality Modeling and Control in
Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Urban Agriculture, Associate Prof. Mohamed Samer
(Ed.), InTech, DOI: 10.5772/62302. Available from:
http://www.intechopen.com/books/urban-agriculture/water-quality-modeling-and-
control-in-recirculating-aquaculture-systems
Higgins, Patrick. "Nitrate Levels In Aquaculture May Be More Dangerous Than You
Think". Ysi.com. YSI, Jan 23 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Souza, Priscila O., et al. "Algae of economic importance that accumulate cadmium and lead: a
review." Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 22.4 (2012): 825-837.