METHOD FOR TREATING A WASTE STREAM USING PHOTOSYNTHETIC MICROORGANISMS

摘要

The present invention is directed to a method for treating a waste stream by contacting the waste stream sequentially with a consortium of prokaryotic microorganisms, preferably purple non-sulfur bacteria, followed by a the green algae Chlorella. The consortium of prokaryotic microorganisms assimilate a first portion of the wastes, and the green algae assimilate the remaining portion of the wastes to produce a substantially purified effluent stream. The process of the present invention preferably includes a photobioreactor in order to increase the amount of light made available to the photosynthetic microorganisms, and result in improved uptake of waste materials from the waste stream.