Washington University in St. Louis develop new methods to grow algae in wastewater

In Missouri, 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. Researchers developed a way to turn the process on its head, bringing the nutrients from the wastewater to the algae, rather than putting algae into the wastewater. The process hinges on a microbial electrochemical system developed in the lab. 

Using this system, they were able to use bioelectricity to extract nutrients and then take them to the algae, feeding them more efficiently and leading to purer algal biomass.

To test its purity, they took wastewater from Washington University’s food services; in half of the sample, they added algae. In the other half, they used the wastewater treatment system to extract the nutrients from the wastewater, which they then used to feed algae.