Organic waste recycling is an important emergent technology in development to combat the growing crisis of nutrient scarcity. Many waste streams and effluents contain high concentrations of valuable nutrients, but chemical treatments and recovery processes are both fiscally and energetically expensive. Microalgae are wellstudied for use in biological nutrient recovery systems, but conventional culture techniques still have significant shortcomings, especially regarding energy balancing. This study sampled microalgae and photosynthetic consortia from the local environment and artificially adapted them to blended, untreated wastewaters using a stepwise bioprospecting approach. Liquid biogas digestate (BD) was selected for its high phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) concentrations and difficulties associated with recycling, while aquaculture effluent (ACE) was selected to dilute BD for its slightly acidic pH, low turbidity, and sheer volume produced in Finland. Mixed consortia showed 2 × greater biomass production than cultures containing only eukaryotic microalgae under concentrations of 10–25% BD. At 5% and 10% BD, all experimental consortia removed enough dissolved P to satisfy EU wastewater discharge standards (< 2 mg/L); however, only 5% BD results met N discharge standards. (< 15 mg/L) by the end of the cultivation period (10–12 d). In contrast with nutrient removal findings, higher BD concentration resulted in more efficient removal of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, > 93% removal).
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