Chapter 16
Cyanobacteria: The Eco-Friendly Tool
for the Treatment of Industrial Wastewaters
Sharma Mona, Virendra Kumar, Bansal Deepak, and Anubha Kaushik
Abstract As the earth’s human population has increased, an enormous industrial
growth has taken place throughout the world. Industry is the most flagrant abuser of
water quality. It discharges polluted water having the pollution strength of at least
double the sewage of all municipalities combined. Industrial effluents are the most
important sources of toxic contaminants in any environment. Discharge of untreated
industrial wastewater into aquatic bodies is posing a serious threat to the water
resources. It should be treated before discharge into the natural water bodies.
Recently, there has been increasing interest in cyanobacteria for the treatment of
industrial wastewater (phycoremediation) since they possess many advantages over
other microorganisms. Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic in nature and have the
ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen enabling them to be productive. In this way
cyanobacteria are inexpensive; they can maintain their growth without the addition
of nutrients. They are known to inhabit in various aquatic and highly polluted
environment and acquired natural resistance against environmental pollutants.
Cyanobacteria are efficient in the assimilation of organic matter and have high
biodegradation, transformation, and biosorption capability of pollutants present in
industrial wastewater. In addition, cyanobacteria have a great potential as a source of
biofuels, bio-fertilizers, animal feed, polysaccharide production, etc. which makes
them a viable and sustainable approach for the treatment of industrial wastewater and
can be improved through genetic engineering technologies. This chapter represents
the biodiversity of cyanobacteria and their potential application for the removal of
S. Mona (*)
Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Haryana, Pali, Haryana, India
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of
Science & Technology, Hisar, Haryana, India
V. Kumar
Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Haryana, Pali, Haryana, India
B. Deepak
JBM Group, Gurugram, Haryana, India
A. Kaushik
University School of Environment Management (USEM), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University, New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_16
389
Cyanobacteria: The Eco-Friendly Tool
for the Treatment of Industrial Wastewaters
Sharma Mona, Virendra Kumar, Bansal Deepak, and Anubha Kaushik
Abstract As the earth’s human population has increased, an enormous industrial
growth has taken place throughout the world. Industry is the most flagrant abuser of
water quality. It discharges polluted water having the pollution strength of at least
double the sewage of all municipalities combined. Industrial effluents are the most
important sources of toxic contaminants in any environment. Discharge of untreated
industrial wastewater into aquatic bodies is posing a serious threat to the water
resources. It should be treated before discharge into the natural water bodies.
Recently, there has been increasing interest in cyanobacteria for the treatment of
industrial wastewater (phycoremediation) since they possess many advantages over
other microorganisms. Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic in nature and have the
ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen enabling them to be productive. In this way
cyanobacteria are inexpensive; they can maintain their growth without the addition
of nutrients. They are known to inhabit in various aquatic and highly polluted
environment and acquired natural resistance against environmental pollutants.
Cyanobacteria are efficient in the assimilation of organic matter and have high
biodegradation, transformation, and biosorption capability of pollutants present in
industrial wastewater. In addition, cyanobacteria have a great potential as a source of
biofuels, bio-fertilizers, animal feed, polysaccharide production, etc. which makes
them a viable and sustainable approach for the treatment of industrial wastewater and
can be improved through genetic engineering technologies. This chapter represents
the biodiversity of cyanobacteria and their potential application for the removal of
S. Mona (*)
Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Haryana, Pali, Haryana, India
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of
Science & Technology, Hisar, Haryana, India
V. Kumar
Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Haryana, Pali, Haryana, India
B. Deepak
JBM Group, Gurugram, Haryana, India
A. Kaushik
University School of Environment Management (USEM), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University, New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_16
389