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Algae Covered Pond. Algal nutrient solutions are made up of a mixture of chemical salts and seawater. [1] Sometimes referred to as "Growth Media", nutrient solutions (e.g., the Hoagland solution, along with carbon dioxide and light), provide the materials needed for algae to grow.
[44] [45] [55] Additionally, studies have focused on how brown algae growth can be optimized to increase biomass production and therefore increase the quantity of nutrients removed from these ecosystems. [55] Studies have also explored the potential of brown algae to sequester large volumes of carbon (blue carbon). [5] [45] [55]
Blue-green algae is used as a biofertilizer. A biofertilizer is a substance which contains living micro-organisms which, when applied to seeds, plant surfaces, or soil, colonize the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant. [1]
Sewage treatment plants mix these organisms as activated sludge or circulate water past organisms living on trickling filters or rotating biological contactors. [ 5 ] Aquatic vegetation may provide similar surface habitat for purifying bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers in a pond or marsh setting; although water circulation is often less effective.
Algae can make their own nutrients through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts light energy to chemical energy that can be stored as nutrients. For algae to grow, they must be exposed to light because photosynthesis requires light, so algae are typically distributed evenly wherever sunlight and moderate moisture is available.
Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. When subsequently harvested, the enriched algae can be used as fertilizer. Aquaria and ponds can be filtered using algae, which absorb nutrients from the water in a device called an algae scrubber, also known as an algae turf scrubber. [130] [131]
This removal of algae has the effect of removing undesired nutrients from the water because the algae used the nutrients in order to grow. The algae is generally removed either: Every 7 to 21 days, or; When it is black, or; When it fills up the scrubber, or; When it starts letting go, or; When nutrients start to rise in the water.
Activated sludge tank at Beckton sewage treatment plant, UK.The white bubbles are due to the diffused air aeration system. The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoa.