Botryococcus braunii as a Phycoremediation Tool for the Domestic Waste Water Recycling from Cooum River, Chennai, India

Arone Soul Raj GP, Elumalai S,

Abstract

The micro algae are the green photosynthetic micro organisms, which are the primary producers of the aquatic ecosystems. The green micro algae have evolved long back approximately two and a half billion years ago and initiated the process of photosynthesis in the world. The Botryococcus braunii is a green photosynthetic micro alga fixes atmospheric CO2 for energy production and it is well known for high quantity of lipid accumulation. Along with normal fatty acids the long chain different types of hydrocarbon production exudates outside of the cells are the characteristic features of this specific micro alga. At the same time, this unique micro alga has been reported to grow well in the sewage waste water and can be used to remove toxic metals and unwanted nutrients from waste water. In this present study, a new and novel strain of Botryococcus braunii has been isolated from the temple ponds around the Chennai city, Tamil Nadu, India. The effective treatment of domestic waste water from different sites around Chennai city using Botryococcus braunii has been well evaluated in this current study. The physiochemical parameters like COD, BOD, electrical conductivity (EC) and ammonia have been removed more than 70% from domestic waste water especially in Adyar River (AR) domestic waste water when compared to other waste water. The growth kinetics of the Botryococcus braunii strain in the domestic waste water AR and NB (Napier’s bridge) have shown good results when compared to other samples. The micro alga B. braunii strain is well known for its high lipid production and which was achieved from the biomass harvested from the domestic waste water sample AR. The total carotenoid content was also found in the micro algal biomass from the sample AR. This overall research study suggested that the implication of some important micro algae for the treatment of waste water can remediate the water resource as well as the biomass yield can be economically useful for many applications.