Nutrient Removal and Algal Community Variation from Urban River with the Isolated Microalgal Strains Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp.

The objectives of this study were to determine nutrient removal rates and algal community variation using the isolated microalgal strains Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. from an urban river water. The concentration of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in river water declined after pouring into Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp., it was indicated that the Scenedesmus sp. had respective advantage in removing nitrogen (86% removal rate) and Chlorella sp. in removing phosphorous (95% removal rate). The algae community composition showed extreme sensitivity to change in the joint of the Scenedesmus or Chlorella, respectively, the lower diversity and higher dominance of algae can be observed in Scenedesmus group, there existed an opposite tendency in Chlorella group. The results demonstrated that the high potential of using Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. for nutrient removal from riverwater.