Microalgae and Cyanobacteria in the Biological Treatment of Effluents

Objective: This research has the aim of carrying out a bibliography review of effluent treatment in the industrial sector using microalgae as a process of biological treatment to reduce the concentration of pollutants. Theoretical framework: Water availability is a global problem and it is necessary to implement wastewater treatment processes to reduce the concentration of organic, inorganic, and toxic pollutants and others. Among the stages of the wastewater treatment train there are the biological processes where organic matter is degraded by microorganisms present. Methodology: databases as Google Scholar, Science Direct, Springer, and NCBI, were consulted to collect scientific and academic documents, including documents from 2005 to 2024. Results and Discussion: the benefit of using microalgae and cyanobacteria as a biological treatment is observed mainly in the reduction of contaminants compounds, also the reduction of the presence of color, odor and fecal coliforms in the wastewater. Research implications: demonstrate the promising results on the reduction of pollutants concentration in effluents from different sectors when microalgae are included in the process; its utility is attributed to their adaption, tolerance, and survival capacity in various concentrations of contaminants. Also, the viability of the microalgal biotechnology with the implementation of photobioreactors who allow the operations of closed systems in continuous or semi-continuous optimizing the cultivation of microalgae under specific conditions.