PHYCOREMEDIATION OF ZINC BY SPIROGYRA AND RICHTERELLA SPECIES ISOLATED FROM POND
Abioye, O.P, Adeoye, B.S, Aransiola, S.A and Oyewole O. A
Abstract
This study was carried out to assess the phycoremediation of zinc by Spirogyra sp. and Richterella sp. isolated from pond. This experiment was carried out for a period of 28 days. For Richterella sp., there was a decrease in concentration of zinc by 50% at the end of 14 day and further reduction in concentration of zinc was 78% at the end of 28 day. Acid digestion of Richterella sp. on the 14 day reveals that Richterella sp. was able to accumulate up to 0.58mg/100g of zinc in its cell which also decrease at the end of 28 day to 0.28mg/100g. Spirogyra sp. was able to reduce the concentration of zinc by 25% and accumulated 0.28mg/100g at the end of 14 day. There was a further reduction in the concentration of zinc at the end of 28 day by 40%. Spirogyra sp. was able to accumulate up to 0.25mg/100g of zinc. This study clearly revealed that spirogyra sp. was able to remove 40% of zinc while Richterella sp. was able to remove 78% of zinc at the end of the experiment. Therefore, both have the ability to remediate zinc but Richterella sp. is more effective than Spirogyra sp. when used in remediation of Zinc contaminated water.
Keywords: Phycoremediation, Pond, Heavy metal, Zinc, Chromium.