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. 2022 Oct 20;19(20):13577.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013577.

Long-Term Examination of Water Chemistry Changes Following Treatment of Cyanobacterial Bloom with Coagulants and Minerals

Bokjin Lee  1   2 , Heejun Kang  1   2 , Hye-Cheol Oh  2 , Jaehwan Ahn  2 , Saerom Park  2 , Sang-Leen Yun  2 , Seogku Kim  1   2
Affiliations

Long-Term Examination of Water Chemistry Changes Following Treatment of Cyanobacterial Bloom with Coagulants and Minerals

Bokjin Lee et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The abundant growth in cyanobacterial blooms poses severe ecological threats with a high risk to aquatic organisms and global public health. Control of cyanobacterial blooms involves spraying cyanobacteria removal materials, including coagulants. However, little is known about the fate of the coagulated-cyanobacteria-laden water. Here, we examined long-term changes in water quality following treatment with various coagulants and minerals for cyanobacterial removal when the coagulated cyanobacterial cells were not removed from the water. An experiment in a controlled water system tested the effects of six different compounds, one conventional coagulant, two natural inorganic coagulants, and three minerals. All tested coagulants and minerals exhibited >75% of cyanobacterial removal efficiency. However, compared to the control, higher concentrations of nitrogen were observed from some samples treated during the experimental period. After 20 months, the final total phosphorus concentration of the raw water increased 20-fold compared to the initial concentration to 11.82 mg/L, indicating significant nutrient release over time. Moreover, we observed that the decomposition of sedimented cyanobacterial cells caused the release of intracellular contents into the supernatant, increasing phosphorous concentration over time. Therefore, cyanobacterial cells should be removed from water after treatment to prevent eutrophication and maintain water quality.

Keywords: coagulation materials; cyanobacteria removal; eutrophication; nutrient release; sedimentation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in total nitrogen concentration in the control and treatments with various coagulants and minerals. MC: mineralized coagulant; PACl: polyaluminum chloride; A: commercial coagulant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in NH3-N and NO3-N concentrations in the control and treatment columns with coagulants and minerals. MC: mineralized coagulant; PACl: polyaluminum chloride; A: commercial coagulant.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in total phosphorus concentrations in the control and treatments with coagulants and minerals. MC: mineralized coagulant; PACl: polyaluminum chloride; A: commercial coagulant.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes in phosphate concentrations in the control and the treatments with various coagulants and minerals. MC: mineralized coagulant, PACl: polyaluminum chloride, and A: commercial coagulant.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Images of cyanobacterial cells in the control (A–C), MC (D–F), PACl (G–I), Loess (J–L), Sericite (M–O), Illite (P–R), and Coagulant A (S–U). Each image of (A,D,G,J,M,P,S) shows bright-field, (B,E,H,K,N,Q,T) red autofluorescence of cells, and (C,F,I,L,O,R,U) SYTOX® Green staining. Cells with a green fluorescence color show that there is a cell damage indicating that the dye bound to nucleic acid. Scale bar = 50 µm. MC: mineralized coagulant; PACl: polyaluminum chloride; Coagulant A: commercial coagulant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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