Efficiency of Biological Removal of Mineral Elements from Wastewater Using the Blue-Alga Oscillatoria sp.

The present study made significant contributions to the application of a green approach for removing metals from wastewater using microalgae. Bioelimination, which involoves the use of biological material to accumulate and concentrate pollutants from aqueous solutions enables ecologically an acceptable recovery and/or elimination of these pollutants. This research specifically aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the blue-green alga/cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp. in the wastewater treatment procedure. The growth rate was promising, especially in low concentrations of wastewater. Additionally, the study explored the potential of using algae for wastewater treatment by reducing the proportion of mineral elements in the algal culture filtrate and examining the possibility of mineral accumulation within the algal cells. Notably, minerals such as phosphate, magnesium, manganese, sodium, iron, sulfur and calcium showed significant differences (P= 0.05) at the probability level. Additionally, it was noted that the highest percentage of mineral nutrient removal was 10% with high efficiency, although in high wastewater concentrations, it was somewhat less efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]