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

Bokjin Lee, Heejun Kang, Hye-cheol Oh, Jaehwan Ahn, Saerom Park, Sang-Leen Yun and Seogku Kim ()
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Bokjin Lee: Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Korea
Heejun Kang: Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Korea
Hye-cheol Oh: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Korea
Jaehwan Ahn: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Korea
Saerom Park: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Korea
Sang-Leen Yun: Department of Environmental Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang 10223, Korea
Seogku Kim: Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-13

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: cyanobacteria removal; coagulation materials; nutrient release; eutrophication; sedimentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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