ABSTRACT
Due to its vast environmental benefits, green technology has succeeded in widespread usage in recent times. The treatment of wastewater through physico-chemical methods is always cost-intensive when employed in industries, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries. Consequently, researchers have drawn their attention in recent years to the importance of low-cost biological wastewater treatment with algae as an alternative to traditional wastewater treatment. Moreover, secondary effluents in wastewater treatment systems are filled with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus and cause long-term problems due to persistent organics and discharged heavy metals. Microalgae cultures represent an important step in wastewater treatment as they provide solution to tertiary biotreatment coupled with producing biomass that can be used for different purposes. Also, microalgae have demonstrated their ability to biotransform and biodegrade a wide variety of contaminants, representing a promising biotechnological remediation method. The chapter has attempted to investigate the role of various algal species in reducing the pollution load from different wastewater effluents.
