ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the comprehensive analysis of the feasibility of phycoremediation, as well as the current challenges and opportunities faced by the application of microalgae for wastewater treatment from different sources. However, with the improvement of microalgae cultivation and extraction methodologies of bioactive compounds, interest in microalgae's biotechnological applications has been continuously increasing. In this context, microalgae are considered suitable bioindicators, revealing the environmental quality of water bodies in a certain time and locality. Promoting microalgae cultivation in wastewater will help mitigate the environmental impacts of treated effluents since this biological method will complement conventional wastewater treatments and improve not only the removal of organic and inorganic load but also the removal of EPs. The use of microalgae as biological treatment for industrial wastewaters is promising. Aiming at a possible upscale of a microalgae-based treatment, a study regarding the removal of pharmaceuticals in rural wastewaters was performed in a lagoon-based system.
