Algal growth in water treatment plants can lead to the introduction of toxin and odour compounds from cyanobacteria and causes filter fouling. Here, we investigate the use of woven polypropylene covers and a proprietary copper sulfate formulation (EarthTec) to prevent algal growth within mesocosms designed to simulate settling basins. Chlorophyll a, soluble nutrients, weather patterns and cyanobacterial gene abundance were measured. The covers suppressed algal and cyanobacterial growth in mesocosms, likely due to a combination of light blockage and prevention of insects from entering the mesocosms. In contrast, mesocosms amended with EarthTec exhibited little difference from the control mesocosms in terms of algal growth. qPCR analysis revealed that only a small fraction of cyanobacteria in the system contained genes necessary for the production of the microcystin toxin. Despite differences between mesocosms and full‐scale settling basins, the data here suggest that woven covers can suppress algal growth while minimising evaporative water losses.

中文翻译：

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水处理系统中抑制蓝细菌的覆盖物和化学处理的研究

水处理厂中藻类的生长会导致从蓝细菌中引入毒素和气味化合物，并导致过滤器结垢。在这里，我们调查了聚丙烯编织罩和专有硫酸铜配方（EarthTec）的使用，以防止藻类在旨在模拟沉降池的中观空间内生长。叶绿素a，可溶性营养素，天气模式和蓝细菌基因丰度进行了测量。覆盖物抑制了中膜中藻类和蓝细菌的生长，这可能是由于光阻隔和防止昆虫进入中膜的结合所致。相反，在藻类生长方面，用EarthTec改良的中膜与对照中膜几乎没有差异。qPCR分析表明，系统中只有一小部分蓝细菌包含产生微囊藻毒素的必需基因。尽管中观世界和全尺寸的沉降池之间存在差异，但此处的数据表明，编织的覆盖物可以抑制藻类的生长，同时将蒸发的水分损失降至最低。