Abstract
This study explores the potential of polyculture microalgae for removing emerging contaminants – paracetamol (PCT) and caffeine (CAF) – along with organics and nutrients from greywater, while assessing their impact on microalgal growth and overall treatment efficiency. Several reactors containing varying concentrations of PCT and CAF (3 – 10 mg L−1) were monitored for total organic carbon (TOC), nitrate, phosphate removal, and microalgal growth. Polyculture microalgae achieved maximum PCT and CAF removal efficiencies of 94.3% and 43.3%, respectively, with the highest increase in microalgal dry weight (0.41 g L−1) in the run with high PCT and low CAF concentration. The polyculture microalgae achieved higher PCT removal efficiency (94.3%) compared to previous studies using monocultures, demonstrating the potential of polycultures for greywater treatment. The highest TOC (73.6%), nitrate (65.6%), and phosphate (41.4%) removal were observed in the run with the absence of contaminants. The addition of PCT and CAF led to a decrease in the removal efficiencies of TOC by 0.6 – 21.9%, nitrate by 8.7 – 63.0%, and phosphate by 18.5 – 33.1%, suggesting that these contaminants impacted the regular nutrient consumption of the microalgae. However, organic consumption increased as PCT and CAF were also used as carbon sources. Despite reduced nutrient consumption, microalgal growth increased by 24.2%.