Production of microbial biomass feedstock via co-cultivation of microalgae-bacteria consortium coupled with effective wastewater treatment: A sustainable approach

A sustainable process was demonstrated towards production of biomass feedstock coupled with wastewater treatment. Sustainability was endeavored to be achieved via symbiotic growth of microalgae and bacteria coupled with utilization of wastewater as cheap source of nutrient and water. The best microalgae-bacteria consortium comprised of two microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana strain DBWC2 & Chlorella sp. strain DBWC7 and two bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae strain ORWB1 & Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain ORWB3. When the consortium was characterized on artificial wastewater and raw dairy wastewater, a significant improvement in the microalgal growth, total biomass titer, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and nitrate removal efficiency was observed as compared to microalgae alone. Total biomass titer, nitrate removal, COD removal efficiency was found to be 2.84 g L-1, 93.59%, 82.27% and 2.87 g(-1), 84.69%, 90.49% in artificial wastewater and raw dairy wastewater respectively. The selected microalgae-bacteria consortium may be a potential platform towards sustainable production of microbial biomass using wastewater.