Synchronous Use of Hindakia Sp. For Electricity Generation and Dairy Wastewater Treatment

Abstract This paper illustrates the potential of microalgae in electricity production in concurrence with wastewater treatment. In order to explore the potential biogenic algal strains, our study focused on the isolation of microalgal strains from various aquatic sources. Cyclic voltammetry was performed to detect the electrogenic activity and out of 18 algal isolates, six algal strains were screened. The cyclic voltammograms of Hindakia sp from the culture collection revealed the well-defined redox peak in contrast to the other algal strains. The electrogenic Hindakia sp. was also analyzed for their potential to remove nutrients in wastewater treatment. A fifteen days trial under lab scale race way pond was conducted to evaluate the performance of electrogenic algae. A significant decrease in N, P, BOD, COD, and TOC was observed. The removal efficiency of NH4-N, NO3-N, P, BOD, COD and TOC were 90.38, 90.24, 66.75, 67.15, 69.44, and 83.51 respectively. Hindakia sp was able to produce 13.79 mg/ml of EPS which paves way to a hydrated biofilm matrix that aids in better electrogenicity. To the best of our knowledge, EPS production, electrogenic activity and their utility in waste water treatment are reported for the first time in Hindakia sp. The results of our study demonstrated the combined beneficial traits of microalgae towards electricity production and waste water treatment.