Towards Sustainable Use of Algae as Adsorbents for Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The occurrence of heavy metals, dyes, micronutrients, phenols, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products (PPCPs) in water resources continue to raise environmental concerns since they are known to cause detrimental effects on living organisms even at low concentrations. Conventional wastewater treatment plants have also been pointed out as point sources of loading these pollutants into the recipient surface waters. Because of the non-biodegradable nature of heavy metals and the stable structure of dyes and PPCPs, these pollutants are persistent in the environment. Studies have shown that algae (micro and macro) present an alternative source of low-cost, efficient, and sustainable biosorbent for the removal of various pollutants from water either singly or in synergy with other wastewater treatment processes. This chapter is a brief review of recent studies on the use of algae-based biosorbents for the sequestration of heavy metals, dyes, and PPCPs from wastewater. Microalgae and macroalgae are shown to be promising and sustainable materials for the biosorption of water pollutants.