Controlling cyanobacterial blooms through effective flocculation and sedimentation with combined use of flocculants and phosphorus adsorbing natural soil and modified clay

Natalia Pessoa Noyma; Leonardo de Magalhães; Luciana Lima Furtado; Maíra Mucci; Frank van Oosterhout; Vera L M Huszar; Marcelo Manzi Marinho; Miquel Lürling

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2015.11.057

Controlling cyanobacterial blooms through effective flocculation and sedimentation with combined use of flocculants and phosphorus adsorbing natural soil and modified clay

Water Res. 2016 Jun 15:97:26-38. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.11.057. Epub 2015 Dec 8.

Authors

Natalia Pessoa Noyma¹, Leonardo de Magalhães², Luciana Lima Furtado², Maíra Mucci³, Frank van Oosterhout³, Vera L M Huszar⁴, Marcelo Manzi Marinho², Miquel Lürling⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Ecology and Physiology of Phytoplankton, Department of Plant Biology, University of Rio de Janeiro State, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524-PHLC Sala 511a, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: np.noyma@gmail.com.
² Laboratory of Ecology and Physiology of Phytoplankton, Department of Plant Biology, University of Rio de Janeiro State, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524-PHLC Sala 511a, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ Aquatic Ecology & Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Museu Nacional, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁵ Aquatic Ecology & Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

PMID: 26706124
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2015.11.057

Abstract

Eutrophication often results in blooms of toxic cyanobacteria that hamper the use of lakes and reservoirs. In this paper, we experimentally evaluated the efficacy of a metal salt (poly-aluminium chloride, PAC) and chitosan, alone and combined with different doses of the lanthanum modified bentonite Phoslock(®) (LMB) or local red soil (LRS) to sediment positively buoyant cyanobacteria from Funil Reservoir, Brazil, (22°30'S, 44°45'W). We also tested the effect of calcium peroxide (CaO2) on suspended and settled cyanobacterial photosystem efficiency, and evaluated the soluble reactive P (SRP) adsorbing capacity of both LMB and LRS under oxic and anoxic conditions. Our data showed that buoyant cyanobacteria could be flocked and effectively precipitated using a combination of PAC or chitosan with LMB or LRS. The SRP sorption capacity of LMB was higher than that of LRS. The maximum P adsorption was lowered under anoxic conditions especially for LRS ballast. CaO2 addition impaired photosystem efficiency at 1 mg L(-1) or higher and killed precipitated cyanobacteria at 4 mg L(-1) or higher. A drawback was that oxygen production from the peroxide gave positive buoyancy again to the settled flocs. Therefore, further experimentations with slow release pellets are recommended.

Keywords: Cyanobacteria bloom; Eutrophication control; Geo-engineering in lakes; Lake restoration; Local red soil; Phosphorus mitigation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cyanobacteria / drug effects
Eutrophication
Flocculation
Lakes
Phosphorus / pharmacology*
Soil*

Substances

Soil
Phosphorus