for denitrification in the AS process is dispensable, whereas periodic
supplementary CO2 is usually inevitable in microalgae
cultivation.
Algal-bacterial synergistic wastewater treatment technology
could be traced back to 1950s’ special stabilization pond designed
by Oswald, also named high rate algae pond (HRAP) (Oswald et al.,
1967). The technology optimized the pond depth and mixing to
enhance the growth of native algal strains for significant improvement
of organics, nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The HRAP system
is designed to be simple and economic in infrastructure and
operation, and the functional algal species had not been manually
selected prudently, which limited the propagation of this technology
in wastewater treatment.
In this study, a locally screened vigorous Chlorella strain was
firstly characterized and then it was used in the comparative study
of wastewater treatment and nutrient recycle assessment via activated
sludge, microalgae and their combination. The removal efficiencies
of major nutrients, including COD, N and P were
compared, the impact of symbiotic cultivation of Chlorella with
AS on the final biomass physiological characteristics and microbial
community structure evolution is also evaluated.