Efficiency Of the Microalgal Consortium in the Depuration of Wastewater from Pig Farms

Abstract

This study evaluated in vitro the ability of microalgae consortia to remove a higher percentage of pollutants present in wastewater from pig farming. The wastewater samples were collected from a local pig farm. The biomasses of the microalgal consortia were bioaugmented in 1.5 L phycoreactor, in a nutrient medium, 2 % v/v culture medium and sterilized distilled water. Growth was measured using a Spectroquant pharo 300 spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 647 nm. The assays were set up in triplicate and the reduction efficiency of these microorganisms to remove the highest amount of contaminants present in the piggery wastewater was evaluated before and after the experiment. The results obtained show that the microalgae consortia showed higher efficiency in pollutant removal.  At the end of the trial it was observed that those treatments with microalgae consortia had a higher remediation effect as they presented a higher percentage of removal of heavy metals cadmium, arsenic and lead of 100%, followed by a reduction in the amount of total and faucal coliforms, total solids and nitrates. Wastewater treatment with microalgae is a method that is being widely studied as this technology is environmentally friendly, does not require energy consumption and is low cost to maintain.