High Nutrient Removal Research Articles

Long-term semi-continuous production of carbohydrate-enriched microalgae biomass cultivated in low-loaded domestic wastewater

The production of carbohydrate-enriched biomass from waste streams as a sustainable biofuel precursor is a noteworthy endeavor. This study investigates the long-term microalgae cultivated under low domestic wastewater loads and different hydraulic retention times (HRT) in a semi-continuous photobioreactor. The influence of operational conditions, the microalgae interaction with carbon, nutrients availability, and microbial population in terms of carbohydrate content were elucidated. The results revealed that the operation at similar low nutrients and carbon loads maintained at three different hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 10, 8, and 6 days caused different patterns in nutrients uptake and biomass composition. Particularly, the carbohydrate accumulation was greatly influenced by the unbalance in the N:P ratios than complete depletion of the nutrients. Hence, during the period operated at HRT of 10 d, high nutrients removal efficiencies were observed while gradually increasing carbohydrate content up to 57% in dry cell weight (DCW). Afterward, the decrease to 8 and 6 d of HRT showed lower nutrient consumption with depleted alkalinity, reaching an appreciably high carbohydrate accumulation of up to 46%, and 56%, respectively. The biomass concentration decreased in the order of HRT of 10, 8, and 6 days. This study demonstrated that microalgae adapted to low carbon and nutrient loads could still accumulate high carbohydrate at shorter HRT using domestic wastewater as substrate.

Improved lipid productivity of Scenedesmus obliquus with high nutrient removal efficiency by mixotrophic cultivation in actual municipal wastewater

This study was aimed to assess the growth and lipid productivity improvement of a green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus by mixotrophic cultivation, via addition of sodium acetate (NaAc) into actual municipal wastewater (AMW). Moreover, the nutrient removal efficiency of the culture media in terms of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus was investigated. The results showed that the S. obliquus grew better in the AMW than in the BG11 medium (0.20 g L−1 vs 0.16 g L−1 in dry cell weight), and the final algal lipid productivity was higher (9.02 mg L−1 d−1 vs 7.75 mg L−1 d−1, P < 0.05). Further, the addition of NaAc significantly stimulated the algal growth and lipid productivity. Specifically, the highest improvement was obtained by the NaAc-addition of 1 g L−1, where the algal dry cell weight increased 2.40 times than that in the AMW with little organic carbon (0.48 mg L−1 vs 0.20 mg L−1, P < 0.01), and the corresponding algal lipid productivity increased 2.44 time (22.08 mg L−1 d−1 vs 9.02 mg L−1 d−1, P < 0.01). Meanwhile, the addition of 1 g L−1 of NaAc significantly increased the microalga-driven nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency, respectively by 1.75 and 2.23 times (82.20% vs 46.85% for total nitrogen, and 76.35% vs 34.18% for total phosphorus). In summary, this study confirmed the feasibility of using organic carbon-supplemented AMW to replace the artificial media for microalgae-based lipid production and nutrient recycling.

Influence of wavelength photoperiods and N/P ratio on wastewater treatment with microalgae-bacteria.

This research investigates the effect of mixing wavelength light photoperiods (12 h blue, 8 h blue: 4 h green, 4 h blue: 8 h green, and 12 h green) and N/P ratios (1.3 to 8.3) on the growth microalgae-bacteria systems, organic matter, and nutrient removals. The highest microalgae-bacteria growth performance (μ = 0.2 d-1, 481.1 ± 15.3 mg DW L-1) was observed when a 8 h blue: 4 h green mixed wavelength and a low N/P ratio were used. For both N/P ratios, biomass productivity was favored when using the blue light dominated at longer time periods. Mechanisms for nitrogen removal by assimilation depend on the N/P ratio, achieving assimilation between 49 and 65% at a low N/P ratio. High nitrogen removal (>50%) showed a strong relation with alkalinity culture conditions (pH > 8.5). The mixing of wavelength photoperiods seems to be a promising strategy to achieve high biomass productivity and nutrient removal. However, for optimal conditions, N/P ratios in the wastewater should be considered.

MBR공정의 운전조건의 변화에 따른 여과성능 개선연구

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) combining an activated sludge process and membrane filtration could achieve high nutrient removal efficiency and complete biomass retention without a secondary clarifier. Membrane fouling remains the most challenging issue in MBR operation and attracts considerable attention in MBR studies. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of permeate flux, aeration mode and strength, and mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) on membrane filtration of small-scale MBR (the capacity 100㎥/d), which consisted of anaerobic, anoxic, and aeration tank coupled with membrane. Experiments were conducted with real MBR using real wastewater (BOD <250 mg/L, COD <220 mg/L, T-N <65 mg/L, T-P <8 mg/L, E-coli <100,000 no/mL). As a result, the increase of both permeate flux and MLSS increased TMP of MBR while the increase of aeration strength decreased the TMP. Compared to the existing operation conditions of MBR, the operation conditions of shorter filtration time (8 min on/ 2 min off) for a cycle and lower MLSS (<3000 mg/L) in MBR resulted in longer filtration duration time (about two times) as well as the reduction of cleaning chemical.

Enhancement of simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal using intermittent aeration mechanism

Biological nutrient removal grows into complicated scenario due to the microbial consortium shift and kinetic competition between phosphorus (P)-accumulating and nitrogen (N)-removing microorganisms. In this study, three sequential batch reactors with constant operational conditions except aeration patterns at 6 h cycle periods were tested. Intermittent aeration was applied to develop a robust nutrient removal system aimed to achieve high energy saving and removal efficiency. The results showed higher correspondence of P-uptake, polymeric substance synthesis and glycogen degradation in intermittent-aeration with longer interval periods compared to continuous-aeration. Increasing the intermittent-aeration duration from 25 to 50 min, resulted in higher process performance where the system exhibited approximately 30% higher nutrient removal. This study indicated that nutrient removal strongly depends on reaction phase configuration representing the importance of aeration pattern. The microbial community examined the variation in abundance of bacterial groups in suspended sludge, where the 50 min intermittent aeration, favored the growth of P-accumulating organisms and nitrogen removal microbial groups, indicating the complications related to nutrient removal systems. Successful intermittently aerated process with high capability of simple implementation to conventional systems by elemental retrofitting, is applicable for upgrading wastewater treatment plants. With aeration as a major operational cost, this process is a promising approach to potentially remove nutrients in high competence, in distinction to optimizing cost-efficacy of the system.

Investigating emergent macrophytes establishment rate and propagation towards constructed wetlands efficacy optimization

Constructed wetlands have become a widely used tool for reducing nutrient loading from agriculture drainage water running to aquatic ecosystems. To ensure a high nutrient removal efficiency, it is often suggested to use macrophytes to retain or remove nutrients via uptake and through the denitrifying biofilm. In Europe, Phragmites australis and Typha spp are the most commonly used aquatic plants in constructed wetlands (CWs) with free surface flow, and these species often form monocultures in the wetlands. In order to achieve a more diverse vegetation, there is a need to introduce more plant species. Creating a mass production of plant material reduces both handling time and the risk of depleting and disturbing vegetation in natural habitats such as streams or lakes. However, a successful and continuous production of such material during growing seasons requires knowledge of the selected species' establishment and propagation. We examined the relative growth rate (RGR) of six emergent macrophyte species collected from streams and small lakes located in Mid Jutland (Denmark), in seasonal experiments from March to October in order to determine the most efficient time period for their propagation. We found that all species had highest RGR in June, and that several species showed high growth efficiency from April to August. The results showed that it is possible to have a full production of emergent macrophytes throughout the growing season, and therefore, we suggest to propagate plants for use in constructed wetlands in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Process-based modeling to assess the nutrient removal efficiency of two endangered hydrophytes: Linking nutrient-cycle with a multiple-quotas approach

Hydrophytes have been widely used to reduce nutrient levels in aquatic ecosystems, but only limited species with high nutrient removal efficiencies have been implemented. Thus, it is necessary to continually explore new candidate species with high nutrient removal efficiencies. To effectively explore the nutrient removal ability of hydrophytes, a new process-based model combining the multiple-quotas approach and nutrient-cycle model was developed. The multiple-quotas approach provides a theoretical framework to conceptually explain the uptake and response of autotrophs to multiple nutrients. The developed process-based model was validated using observational data from microcosm experiments with two emergent hydrophytes, Menyanthes trifoliata and Cicuta virosa. The results showed that both M. trifoliata and C. virosa effectively reduced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in both water and sediment layers, but M. trifoliata showed a higher removal efficiency for both nutrients than C. virosa, particularly for total ammonia + ammonium-nitrogen (NHx-N) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in the sediment layer (M. trifoliata: 0.579–0.976 for NHx-N, 0.567–0.702 for NO3-N; C. virosa: 0.212–0.501 for NHx-N, 0.466–0.560 for NO3-N). In addition, M. trifoliata achieved the maximum removal efficiency for N and P at higher nutrient exposure levels than C. virosa (M. trifoliata: exposure level of 0.725–0.775; C. virosa: exposure level of 0.550–0.575). The developed model well simulated the species-specific growth patterns of hydrophytes depending on the nutrient exposure level as well as the N and P dynamics in the water and sediment layers. The approach adopted in this study provides a useful tool for discovering candidate species to improve hydrophyte diversity and effectively remove nutrients from aquatic ecosystems.

AN EFFICIENT APPROACH TO MANAGE DOMESTIC WASTEWATER IN SMART CITY

Abstract. The adoption of an ecological sanitation system, meeting the requirements hygienic and sanitary, constitutes a feasible and technically and economically acceptable solution in the future smart city. This new sanitation concept has the advantage of solving the problems of pathogens of human waste at source, thus offering the possibility of reusing them after treatment (recycling) in order to improve the standard of living of the population and protect the environment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of a vertical Multi-Soil-Layering system (MSL) system to treat domestic wastewater under three hydraulic loading rates: 250 L/m2/day, 350 L/m2/day and 500 L/m2/day, in Moroccan conditions. To do this, a vertical MSL system measuring 20cm × 60cm × 78cm (L × W × H) was designed to treat domestic wastewater and his performance was investigated. The results showed high removal of organic matters and nutrients under the three hydraulic loads tested; the performance averages recorded are upper than 84 % for organic matters, 83.1 ± 7.2 % for ammonium and 72.4 ± 14.1 % for orthophosphate. The quality of the treated wastewater was evaluated according to Moroccan reject limit value. Consequently, this system could be considered an effective solution to be adopted for decentralized domestic wastewater treatment in Moroccan conditions.

The Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in a Wastewater Treatment Plant through Sustainable Biogas Use: Case Study from Poland

The improvement of energy efficiency ensuring high nutrients removal is a great concern for many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The energy balance of a WWTP can be improved through the application of highly efficient digestion or its intensification, e.g., through the introduction of the co-substrates with relatively high energy potential to the sewage sludge (SS). In the present study, the overview of the energetic aspect of the Polish WWTPs was presented. The evaluation of energy consumption at individual stages of wastewater treatment along with the possibilities of its increasing was performed. Additionally, the influence of co-digestion process implementation on the energy efficiency of a selected WWTP in Poland was investigated. The evaluation was carried out for a WWTP located in Iława. Both energetic and treatment efficiency were analyzed. The energy balance evaluation of this WWTP was also performed. The obtained results indicated that the WWTP in Iława produced on average 2.54 GWh per year (7.63 GWh of electricity in total) as a result of the co-digestion of sewage sludge with poultry processing waste. A single cubic meter of co-substrates fed to the digesters yielded an average of 25.6 ± 4.3 Nm3 of biogas (between 18.3 and 32.2 Nm3/m3). This enabled covering the energy demand of the plant to a very high degree, ranging from 93.0% to 99.8% (98.2% on average). Importantly, in the presence of the co-substrate, the removal efficiency of organic compounds was enhanced from 64% (mono-digestion) to 69–70%.

Batch kinetics of nutrients removal for palm oil mill effluent and recovery of lipid by Nannochloropsis sp

Batch experiments were investigated for the effect of initial nutrients concentration of palm oil mill effluent (POME) on nutrients removals, growth rate, and lipid content recovery by Nannochloropsis sp. Bio-kinetic coefficients, k; reaction rate constant, Km, half-saturation constant, and Y, yield coefficient were determined. The concentrations of POME chosen were 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 % diluted with seawater (POME + SW) and Walne’s medium (POME + WM). Nannochloropsis sp. demonstrated the highest specific growth rate (0.39 d−1), maximum cell density (7.93 × 107 cell/mL) and lipid content (61.60 %) in 60 % POME + WM. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) can be removed effectively with k =11.31 mg COD mg−1 DCW d−1, and Km = 3883.04 mgL−1. The highest polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) of microalgae treated in 60 % POME + WM was 59.13 %. For conclusion, 60 % POME + WM medium can be selected for POME remediation for high nutrients removal, growth rate and lipid content recovery.

Cultivation of Mixed Microalgae Using Municipal Wastewater: Biomass Productivity, Nutrient Removal, and Biochemical Content.

Background: Microalgal biotechnology has gained much attention previously. Monoculture algae cultivation has been carried out extensively in the last decades. However, although the mixed microalgae cultivation has some advantageous over pure cultures, there is still a lack of knowledge about the performance of mixed cultures.Objective: In this study, it has been tried to investigate all growth aspects of marine and freshwater microalgal species in a mixed culture and their biological effects on biomass growth and composition based on wastewater nutrient consumption.Material and Methods: Three algal species of Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Nannochloropsis sp. were cultivated in saline wastewater individually, then the effects of mixing the three strains on biomass productivity, nutrient removal efficiency, chlorophyll, carotenoid, and lipid content were investigated.Results: The obtained results revealed that the mixed culture of three strains showed the highest biomass productivity of 191 mg. L-1.d-1. Also, while there were no significant differences between the performance of mono and mixed culture of algal species in the removal efficiency of wastewater nutrients, the three-strain microalgal mixed culture showed the highest values of 3.5 mg.L-1.d-1 and 5.75 mg.L-1.d-1 in the removal rate of phosphate and nitrate, respectively. In terms of total chlorophyll and carotenoid per produced biomass, however, the mixed culture of three species showed the lowest values of 4.08 and 0.6 mg. g biomass-1, respectively.Conclusions: The finding proves the potential of attractive and economically feasible mixed microalgae cultivation for high percentage nutrient removal and microalgal biomass production.

Membrane desalination processes for water recovery from pre-treated brewery wastewater: Performance and fouling

Membrane technologies for water reclamation can be effective for combating water shortages while reducing the wastewater discharge to the environment. Here, we investigated water recovery potential from biologically treated brewery wastewater using membrane distillation (MD), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). Both MD and RO achieved high organics (~97% TOC) and nutrients (>99% TN and ~100% TP) removal, whereas NF exhibited lower removal rates of TN (~64%) and TOC (~86%). A relatively lower water flux drop (~53%) was observed for MD compared to NF and RO (~98%). Significantly higher water recovery (~86%) was obtained with the MD, compared to NF (~16%) and RO (~12%). The physicochemical characterization of the fouled membranes revealed biofouling along with organic and inorganic fouling for both NF and RO membranes. However, the MD membrane was fouled primarily by organic and inorganic species, with no noticeable biofouling. Though chemical cleaning was effective for water flux recovery of MD, NF, and RO membranes, the repeated operations altered the membrane surface morphology significantly for both NF and RO membranes. Overall, the comparison study revealed that MD has the potential to be directly used for water reclamation from pre-treated brewery wastewater with minimal flux drop, and high organics and nutrient rejection, and flux recovery.

Conditions for continuous cultivation of Chlorella sorokiniana and nutrient removal from anaerobic digestion effluent of aquatic macrophytes

Continuous cultivations of the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana using 10-L flat-panel bioreactors were conducted at different pH levels and hydraulic retention times (HRT) under natural light conditions to accomplish the maximum algal yields and high nutrient removal from anaerobic digestion effluent (ADE) of aquatic macrophytes, which contained high concentrations of ammonium-nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus, but less available magnesium (Mg). In subsequent experiments, Mg was enriched directly or indirectly by lowering the pH in the original ADE as source medium of a flow-through system to increase the amount of available Mg for algal growth. In the Mg-enrichment experiment, a constant maximum algal yield, 0.7 g dry-weight L−1, was obtained at HRT of 5 days, and removal efficiencies in both ammonium-nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus were >94%. The pH-controlled experiment was conducted at HRTs of 5 and 10 days at two different pH levels (5.0 and 6.5) of the source ADE. Finally, similar algal yields and nutrient removals were obtained using source ADE at pH 6.5 and 10 days HRT as those in the Mg-enrichment experiment. We demonstrated that pH control in the source ADE through continuous cultivation at the relatively longer HRT can help to maximize algal yield and improve nutrient removal without Mg enrichment.

Optimization of alginate bead size immobilized with Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for nutrient removal

Photo-bioreactor experiments using three different size beads (2.0, 3.5, and 5.0 mm) immobilized with two different types of microalgae namely Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were conducted to evaluate the nutrient removal efficiency. The highest nutrient removal was obtained at gel bead pore size of 3.5 mm for both species of C. vulgaris and Ch. reinhardtii. 95% removal of T-N and complete reduction of T-P were achieved within 3 stages of treatment in photo-bioreactors containing 20% algal bead volume fraction. Moreover, the results observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) using SYTOX red dye and SYTOX green dye in alginate beads indicated that the effective depth of C. vulgaris and Ch. reinhardtii was about 3.6 mm and 3.0 mm, respectively. This optimized cell immobilization technology would accelerate the nutrient uptake rate of microalgae for improving efficiency of wastewater treatment systems.

Slow growers possess a high pollutant removal potential through granule formation for wastewater treatment

For the upgradation and building of wastewater treatment plants in limited areas, biological wastewater treatment processes with a high pollutant removal loading rate are required. Biofilm or membrane-based systems can achieve a high pollutant removal loading rate through high microbial biomass concentrations and/or activities. The sludge separation is the primary bottleneck for achieving high biomass concentrations inside the biological reactors. In addition, low growers including anaerobic ammonia oxidation bacteria and methanogens are usually easier to form granules and induce high nutrient removal loading rates. The possible granule formation mechanisms should be clarified through physical, chemical and biological aspects, including hydraulic control, microbial extracellular polymeric substances formation, biological energy utilization control, microbial interactions and also other microbial processes. In future, the possible mechanisms should be further clarified, and then high-efficient bioreactors, new microbial ecology control strategy and novel biofilm carriers should be developed for advancing biological wastewater treatment processes with high pollutant removal loading rates.

Nutrient and heavy metal removal from piggery wastewater and CH4 enrichment in biogas based on microalgae cultivation technology under different initial inoculum concentration.

Three microalgae-based treatment technologies were applied for removing nutrients in piggery wastewater and CO2 in biogas simultaneously. Chlorella vulgaris (C.vulgaris), Scenedesmus obliquus (S.obliquus), and Neochlorisoleoabundans (N.oleoabundans) were selected for mono-cultivation or co-cultivation with fungi or activated sludge. The effects of initial inoculum concentration (low of 62.06±6.23mg/L, medium of 121±9.34mg/L, and high of 180±12.78mg/L) of microalgae/algal symbiont on the pollutant removal efficiency were evaluated. The results showed that cultivation of S.obliquus with activated sludge had a relatively high CO2 and nutrients removal efficiency at a medium concentration of initial inoculum. The highest removal efficiency of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus in piggery wastewater was 87.29%, 87.26%, and 90.17% by co-cultivation of S.obliquus with activated sludge. The highest CO2 removal of 64.28% could be achieved under co-cultivation of S.obliquus and fungi at medium initial inoculum concentrations. This work will be helpful to promote the study of microalgae-based biogas upgrading and piggery wastewater purification. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Nutrient and CO2 were efficiently removed in moderate microalgal initial inoculum. Scenedesmus obliquus-activated sludge cultivation achieved the highest nutrient removal. Co-cultivation of S.obliquus and fungi showed the highest CO2 removal. Zinc was removed efficiently in high microalgal initial inoculum. Chlorella vulgaris/S.obliquus-activated sludge performed economically.

A simple way to improve a conventional A/O-MBR for high simultaneous carbon and nutrient removal from synthetic municipal wastewater.

In this study, two anoxic-oxic membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR) systems, i.e. conventional and biofilm anoxic-oxic-membrane bioreactors (C-A/O-MBR and BF-A/O-MBR, respectively), were operated in parallel under conditions of complete sludge retention for the purposes of comparing system performance and microbial community composition. Moreover, with the microbial communities, comparisons were made between the adhesive stage and the suspended stage. High average removal of COD, NH4+-N and TN was achieved in both systems. However, TP removal efficiency was remarkably higher in BF-A/O-MBR when compared with C-A/O-MBR. TP mass balance analysis suggested that under complete sludge retention, polyurethane sponges that were added into the anoxic tank played a key role in both phosphorus release and accumulation. The qPCR analysis showed that sponge biomass could maintain a higher level of abundance of total bacteria than the suspended sludge. Meanwhile, AOB and denitrifiers were enriched in the suspended sludge but not in the sponge biomass. Results of illumina sequencing reveal that the compacted sponge in BF-A/O-MBR could promote the growth of bacteria involved in nutrient removal and reduce the amount of filamentous and bacterial growth that is related to membrane fouling in the suspended sludge.

Water quality retrieval and algae inhibition from eutrophic freshwaters with iron-rich substrate based ecological floating beds treatment

Ecological floating rafts in restoration of eutrophic freshwaters were deemed to a frequently used method. In this study, a manipulative experiment using ecological floating rafts based on iron-rich substrate (IRS) was conducted. The approach was attempted to study the nutrient removal efficiency and algae inhibition effect of IRS. The results showed that 98.2% chlorophyll-a (chl-a) removal rate was achieved in 7-day restoration by IRS accompanied with high nutrient removal efficiency. In addition, iron-rich substrate based ecological floating beds could reached 82.1% chl-a removal rate and 98.5% total phosphorus (TP) removal rate with the increasing activity of aquatic organisms through a 50-day pilot scale experiment. The findings imply that iron-rich substrate-based ecological floating beds are an alternative method for ecological restoration of eutrophic freshwaters.

Microalgae harvesting from wastewater by pH modulation and flotation: Assessing and optimizing operational parameters

Microalgae harvesting is one of the major bottlenecks for the production of high-value microalgal products on a large scale, which encourages investigations of harvesting methods with better cost-benefits. Among these harvesting techniques, flotation stands out as a promising method, however it is still minimally explored when compared to the sedimentation method. In this study, the pH modulation followed by dissolved air flotation (DAF) was tested as a harvesting method for Chlorella sorokiniana cultivated in wastewater. The main aims of this study were to optimize the operational parameters of coagulation (pH, velocity gradient, and mixing time) and flotation (recirculation rate), check their reproducibility and resilience with the variability of wastewater characteristics, and evaluate the final wastewater quality after treatment using an optimized harvesting method. Parameter optimization was carried out using the one-factor-at-a-time method. The optimal parameters were a velocity gradient of 500 s−1, mixing time of 30 s, pH 12, and 20% of recirculation rate. High efficiencies were obtained for C. sorokiniana removal (96.5–97.9%), making it a successful process. Moreover, the photobioreactor effluent quality was also improved significantly after microalgae harvesting, with high nutrient removal (88.6–95.1% of total Kjeldahl nitrogen and 91.8–98.3% of total phosphorus) and organic matter removal (80.5–86.8% of chemical oxygen demand). The results showed the pH modulation and DAF as an effective process for wastewater treatment and biomass harvesting. This study also indicated the importance of operational optimization, not studied until now, in which the achieved results could be potentially applied as practical guidelines for microalgae harvesting on a large scale.

Screening of microalgae and LED grow light spectra for effective removal of dissolved nutrients from cold-water recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) wastewater

Popularity of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) is increasing. Because of the high water recirculation rate, dissolved nutrients originating from fish feed are concentrated enough in RAS wastewater (WW) to enable growth of primary producers, e.g. microalgae. This study evaluated nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and phosphate-phosphorus (PO4-P) removal efficiency of ten temperate zone freshwater microalgae species during their exponential growth phase in unfiltered RAS WW at 17 ± 0.5 °C. Growth and nutrient uptake efficiency of six green and four non-green microalgae strains were compared between WW and reference growth medium in batch monocultures. The effect of three different LED grow light spectra on growth and nutrient uptake efficiency were compared for four green microalgae in WW. The specific growth rate (SGR, 0.5-0.8 d−1) and removal of NO3-N (N%, 57–96%) and PO4-P (P%, 78–94%) of green microalgae in WW in 4 days were comparable to the results obtained in the reference medium (SGR, 0.6-0.9 d−1, N%, 59–99%; P%, 86–99%). In contrast, non-green microalgae had negligible growth (SGR, from -0.1 to 0.2 d−1) and poor nutrient removal (N%, 1–29%; P%, 0–34%) in both growth media after 9 days. The three LED spectra did not differ on their effect on growth and nutrient removal of three green microalgae in WW after 4 days, while the fourth tested species, Haematoccocus pluvialis, had its highest nutrient removal after 8 days under a specific LED spectrum. Current results show that RAS WW supports well green microalgae growth in batch cultures in temperatures common in Nordic RAS and that continuous spectrum LED grow lights can induce high removal of dissolved nutrients. Our findings lend support to the concept of using temperate zone microalgae for nutrient removal and recycling from RAS WW.