Using wastewater to produce biomass has some drawbacks, namely, ‘what you get is messy’
Growing algae in wastewater has been a hot topic in research for years. News reports for decades have touted the latest research as bringing us within reach of new sources of fertilizer or environmentally friendlier biofuel.
So far, however, these promises have not been fulfilled. One reason is that the algae grown in wastewater tends to be contaminated. But even if it wasn’t, it’s not clear that the applications for the algae that have been dreamed up in the lab would be the most realistic applications outside the lab.
Inside one lab, however, at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, researchers had applications in mind when they developed a new method to use nutrients recovered from wastewater to grow algae that is more than twice as pure as algae grown directly in conventional wastewater.
The research was published online late last year in the journal Water Research.
Continue reading at Washington University in St. Louis
Image via Washington University in St. Louis
