Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials
Microalgae are gaining increasing attention for wastewater (WW) depuration thanks to their ability to remove pollutants from WW. As environmental conditions change widely geographically and throughout the year, also reaching growth-limiting temperatures during the cold season, sites and seasons spec...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4235 |
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| author | Pierluigi Giacò Costanza Baldisserotto Sara Demaria Elisa Benà Lorenzo Ferroni Giulia Zanotti Simonetta Pancaldi |
| author_facet | Pierluigi Giacò Costanza Baldisserotto Sara Demaria Elisa Benà Lorenzo Ferroni Giulia Zanotti Simonetta Pancaldi |
| author_sort | Pierluigi Giacò |
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| description | Microalgae are gaining increasing attention for wastewater (WW) depuration thanks to their ability to remove pollutants from WW. As environmental conditions change widely geographically and throughout the year, also reaching growth-limiting temperatures during the cold season, sites and seasons specific tests are needed to assess the actual implementation of microalgae phytoremediation. In this paper, two site-specific prototype-scale experiments were performed to test the ability of an autochthonous microalga to depurate urban WW efficiently during winter. Two setups were tested: one indoor and one outdoor. We evaluated dry biomass production, photosynthetic stress, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removals from WW. In addition, <i>Escherichia coli</i> concentration was monitored on the effluent. Despite the limited growth in both conditions, N was largely removed from the medium, with the highest result recorded outdoors (almost 70%). No P removal was recorded, although P content in biomass increased both indoors and outdoors, meaning that multiple processes could occur at the same time. Moreover, a huge decrease in <i>E. coli</i> content was recorded in both conditions, suggesting potential for effluent disinfection. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-920c8207c7dd403ea82772e2f8264c76 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| spelling | doaj-art-920c8207c7dd403ea82772e2f8264c762025-08-20T03:14:24ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-04-01158423510.3390/app15084235Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor TrialsPierluigi Giacò0Costanza Baldisserotto1Sara Demaria2Elisa Benà3Lorenzo Ferroni4Giulia Zanotti5Simonetta Pancaldi6Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyHERA SpA—Direzione Acqua, Via Gramicia, 95, 44123 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyMicroalgae are gaining increasing attention for wastewater (WW) depuration thanks to their ability to remove pollutants from WW. As environmental conditions change widely geographically and throughout the year, also reaching growth-limiting temperatures during the cold season, sites and seasons specific tests are needed to assess the actual implementation of microalgae phytoremediation. In this paper, two site-specific prototype-scale experiments were performed to test the ability of an autochthonous microalga to depurate urban WW efficiently during winter. Two setups were tested: one indoor and one outdoor. We evaluated dry biomass production, photosynthetic stress, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removals from WW. In addition, <i>Escherichia coli</i> concentration was monitored on the effluent. Despite the limited growth in both conditions, N was largely removed from the medium, with the highest result recorded outdoors (almost 70%). No P removal was recorded, although P content in biomass increased both indoors and outdoors, meaning that multiple processes could occur at the same time. Moreover, a huge decrease in <i>E. coli</i> content was recorded in both conditions, suggesting potential for effluent disinfection.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4235microalgaewastewaterphytoremediationurban wastewater<i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| spellingShingle | Pierluigi Giacò Costanza Baldisserotto Sara Demaria Elisa Benà Lorenzo Ferroni Giulia Zanotti Simonetta Pancaldi Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials Applied Sciences microalgae wastewater phytoremediation urban wastewater <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| title | Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials |
| title_full | Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials |
| title_fullStr | Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials |
| title_short | Urban Wastewater Phytoremediation by Autochthonous Microalgae in Winter Season: Indoor and Outdoor Trials |
| title_sort | urban wastewater phytoremediation by autochthonous microalgae in winter season indoor and outdoor trials |
| topic | microalgae wastewater phytoremediation urban wastewater <i>Escherichia coli</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/8/4235 |
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