IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i22p16019-d1281713.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Utilization of Microalgae for Urban Wastewater Treatment and Valorization of Treated Wastewater and Biomass for Biofertilizer Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Shoyeb Khan

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Mahmoud Thaher

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Mohammed Abdulquadir

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Mohammed Faisal

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Sanjeet Mehariya

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Mohammad A. A. Al-Najjar

    (Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman 11937, Jordan)

  • Hareb Al-Jabri

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
    Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Probir Das

    (Algal Technology Program, Centre for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has substantially increased freshwater consumption and consequent wastewater generation. The produced wastewater is an abundant resource of phosphorus, nitrogen, and organics. Currently, well-established activated sludge processes are utilized in conventional wastewater treatment plants to remove organics. However, removing nitrogenous and phosphorus compounds continues to be challenging and energy-intensive for urban wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, the current study aims to understand how photosynthetic microalgae can recover phosphorus and nitrogen from urban wastewater and how wastewater-grown microalgae biomass may be used as a biofertilizer and biostimulant. Utilizing microalgae biomass treated with urban wastewater as a biofertilizer promotes plant growth in a manner similar to other organic manures and conventional fertilizers while minimizing nutrient loss to the soil. Furthermore, the microalgal recovery of nutrients from urban wastewater could have potential energy reductions of 47% and 240% for nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. In addition to producing treated wastewater suitable for a variety of irrigation systems, microalgae biomass is a potential sustainable alternative resource that could reduce conventional inorganic fertilizer usage.

Suggested Citation

  • Shoyeb Khan & Mahmoud Thaher & Mohammed Abdulquadir & Mohammed Faisal & Sanjeet Mehariya & Mohammad A. A. Al-Najjar & Hareb Al-Jabri & Probir Das, 2023. "Utilization of Microalgae for Urban Wastewater Treatment and Valorization of Treated Wastewater and Biomass for Biofertilizer Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:16019-:d:1281713
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/16019/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/16019/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jalali, M. & Merikhpour, H. & Kaledhonkar, M.J. & Van Der Zee, S.E.A.T.M., 2008. "Effects of wastewater irrigation on soil sodicity and nutrient leaching in calcareous soils," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 143-153, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ján Derco & Patrícia Guľašová & Maša Legan & Ronald Zakhar & Andreja Žgajnar Gotvajn, 2024. "Sustainability Strategies in Municipal Wastewater Treatment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-41, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bern, Carleton R. & Breit, George N. & Healy, Richard W. & Zupancic, John W., 2013. "Deep subsurface drip irrigation using coal-bed sodic water: Part II. Geochemistry," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 135-149.
    2. Muyen, Zahida & Moore, Graham A. & Wrigley, Roger J., 2011. "Soil salinity and sodicity effects of wastewater irrigation in South East Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 33-41.
    3. Pereira, B.F.F. & He, Z.L. & Stoffella, P.J. & Melfi, A.J., 2011. "Reclaimed wastewater: Effects on citrus nutrition," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(12), pages 1828-1833, October.
    4. Zhu, Yan & Yang, Jinzhong & Ye, Ming & Sun, Huaiwei & Shi, Liangsheng, 2017. "Development and application of a fully integrated model for unsaturated-saturated nitrogen reactive transport," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 180(PA), pages 35-49.
    5. Marofi, Safar & Shakarami, Masoud & Rahimi, Ghasem & Ershadfath, Farnaz, 2015. "Effect of wastewater and compost on leaching nutrients of soil column under basil cultivation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 266-276.
    6. Chaganti, Vijayasatya N. & Crohn, David M. & Šimůnek, Jirka, 2015. "Leaching and reclamation of a biochar and compost amended saline–sodic soil with moderate SAR reclaimed water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 255-265.
    7. Zhang, Ying & Li, Xin & Wang, Zhigang & Liang, Haijing & Hu, Miao & Meng, Qingjuan, 2012. "Study on the response of soil chemical properties and corn (Zea mays L.) to the land application with sugar beet rinse water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 38-46.
    8. Wang, Lin & Blanchy, Guillaume & Cornelis, Wim & Garré, Sarah, 2024. "Changes in soil hydraulic and physio-chemical properties under treated wastewater irrigation: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:16019-:d:1281713. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.