The potential use of the diatom Nitzschia palea (Kützing) W. Smith For the Removal of Certain Pollutants from Al-Rustumeyah Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baghdad-Iraq

Abstract

The ability of Nitzschia palea (Kützing) W. Smith to reduce the concentration of nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate), phosphorus (orthophosphate) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater were examined. The wastewater was collected from the final sediment tank in the Rustumeyah wastewater treatment plant located south of Baghdad-Iraq. The diatom was cultured in wastewater after filtration. The culture was kept at 25 ± 2°C under the light intensity of 260 μE/m2/s. The tests were carried out in two cases (sterilized and non-sterilized) wastewater for ten days. For sterilized wastewater, the experimental results showed that the removal of ammonia and phosphor after 4-5 days of treatment was found to be 100%. At the same time, the removal of COD was found to be 85% 85%. For non- sterilized wastewater, higher efficiency of diatom was recorded. The study has covered the determination of algae in both treatments during the experiment period. In conclusion, the diatom Nitzschia palea has a good ability to treat ammonia, nitrate, phosphorus and (COD) in wastewater, and a higher efficiency was found in the non-sterilized sample. This study contributes to enhancing diatom’s growth and then its cost. Thus it can be used in the blue biotechnology context.