Anwaruddin Ahmed Wurochekke

Harvesting of microalgae biomass from the phycoremediation process of greywater

The wide application of microalgae in the field of wastewater treatment and bioenergy source has improved research studies in the past years. Microalgae represent a good source of biomass and bio-products which are used in different medical and industrial activities, among them the production of high-valued products and biofuels. The present review focused on greywater treatment through the application of phycoremediation technique with microalgae and presented recent advances in technologies used for harvesting the microalgae biomass. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. The microbiological aspects of production, harvesting and utilization of microalgae biomass are viewed.

Influence of pathogenic bacterial activity on growth of Scenedesmus sp. and removal of nutrients from public market wastewater

The present study aims to investigate the influence of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis in public market wastewater on the removal of nutrients in terms of ammonium (NH4-) and orthophosphate (PO43) using Scenedesmus sp. The removal rates of NH4- and orthophosphate PO43- and batch kinetic coefficient of Scenedesmus sp. were investigated. The phycoremediation process was carried out at ambient temperature for 6 days. The results revealed that the pathogenic bacteria exhibited survival potential in the presence of microalgae but they were reduced by 3-4 log at the end of the treatment process. The specific removal rates of NH4- and PO43- have a strong relationship with initial concentration in the public market wastewater (R2 = 0.86 and 0.80, respectively). The kinetic coefficient of NH4- removal by Scenedesmus sp. was determined as k = 4.28 mg NH4- 1 log10 cell mL-1 d-1 and km = 52.01 mg L-1 (R2 = 0.94) while the coefficient of PO43- removal was noted as k = 1.09 mg NH4- 1 log10 cell mL-1 d-1 and km = 85.56 mg L-1 (R2 = 0.92). It can be concluded that Scenedesmus sp. has high competition from indigenous bacteria in the public market wastewater to remove nutrients, with a higher coefficient of removal of NH4- than PO43.

Phycoremediation: A Green Technology for Nutrient Removal from Greywater

Phycoremediation as a green technology relies on microalgae which have high potential to grow in greywater. The presence of high levels of nutrients is necessary for microalgae growth to improve the efficiency of this process. However, the main consideration of the phycoremediation process of greywater lies in the wastewater composition, the selection of microalgae strains with high potential to compete with the indigenous organisms in the greywater and remove nutrients and elements from greywater as well as microalgae, which possess the ability to survive under stressful environmental conditions. Besides, this process can be applied to individual houses. The cost of the phycoremediation process, source of microalgae and energy required are the main points which need to be discussed further. The study indicated that the phycoremediation process is most effective for the treatment of greywater. However, many aspects have to be evaluated in order to achieve the high-quality-treated greywater. In this chapter, the effectiveness of phycoremediation and the mechanism of nutrient removal are discussed. Most microalgae species exhibited greater efficiency in removing nitrogen compared to phosphorous due to the nature of the anabolic pathway of microalgae cells and the ability of nitrogen compounds to diffuse through the cell membrane faster than phosphorous compounds.

Sustainable Extensive On-Site Constructed Wetland for some Bacteriological Reduction in Kitchen Greywater

Malaysia is experiencing water pollution crisis recently. In particular, greywater discharge directly to drains. Therefore, a greywater treatment system was designed to overcome this drain pollution. To investigate the operation and performance of the treatment system, constructed wetland was designed and builds for a small single household. Lepironia Articulata was chosen for populating wetland. The wetland was supplied with kitchen greywater. The selected house is appropriate because it lacks proper drainage system. This study evaluates the characteristic of kitchen greywater before and after treatment. The quality parameters of greywater that involve in this study are Total Coliform and E-coli. The range for reduction efficiency for Total Suspended Solid was 16.02 to 60.56, E.coli was 26% to 51% and Total Coliform was 5% to 63%. Generally, this study showed improved kitchen greywater quality before discharging to the nearest water body. The findings can be used significantly to enhance the knowledge in constructed wetland where it can serve as effective and integrated solutions for managing greywater discharging using control at source approach. A constructed wetland was best chosen due to its good visual impact, removal efficiency of organic material and other pollutant, as well economical.