Potential Application and Future Prospects of Algal-Bacterial Aerobic Granular Sludge for Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Algal and bacterial consortia have a high potential to enhance wastewater treatment efficiencies. Algae have been embedded into aerobic granulation process allowing interactions between algal and bacterial cells within the sludge whereby granular flocs were successfully formed. The unique structure of algal-bacterial aerobic granules leads to easier separation between sludge and treated wastewater. The bibliographic data shows increasing interest in the field of algal-bacterial aerobic granular sludge due to the high treatment efficiency in treating different types of wastewaters, including those containing heavy metals and antibiotics. Moreover, the algal-bacterial aerobic granules may be harvested by the end of treatment process for extraction of biolipid for possible resource recovery in form of biofuel. The applications and resource recovery of this system is thoroughly elucidated in this article.