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Investigation of cyanobacteria blooms in paper mill wastewaters and assessment of zinc as a control agent

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Abstract

At a paper manufacturing mill (PML) that had been previously part of an integrated pulp (bisulphite) and paper mills industry, cyanobacterial blooms were observed in the mill’s aerated stabilization basin (ASB) ponds at about 3 years after pulping had been discontinued. This study aimed to determine the factors that led to bloom occurrences and potential control strategies applicable to the paper manufacturing mill’s, aerated stabilization basin system that discharges wastewaters into a coastal lake. Following discontinuation of pulping, the colour of the wastewaters reduced to low levels (~ 10 Hazen units or less), while the levels of nutrient remained potentially supportive of cyanobacteria growth with total phosphorus at ~ 0.1 mg/L and total nitrogen at > 2.5 mg/L. Incidences of blooms in the ABS were associated with preceding average monthly rainfalls and wind speeds being less (~ 44% and ~ 7%, respectively) and average direct sunlight hours being greater (~ 9%) than the long-term average values. Zinc was investigated for control of cyanobacteria as this metal is less toxic to aquatic organisms and microflora than copper algaecides. In laboratory culture trials, zinc was found to inhibit growth of M. aeruginosa (strain MIC338) and Pseudanabaena sp. when dosed at ~ 2.5 mg/L. The inhibition of cyanobacteria by zinc was found to vary between ASB pond samples which had different in situ chlorophyll a levels. This study found that the PML wastewaters investigated can be supportive of cyanobacterial growth to bloom levels after discontinuation of pulping processes and that zinc has potential as a cyanobacteria control agent.

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Availability of data and material

Primary data of research reported in this manuscript will be made available upon request. Some key primary data are provided in Supplementary information. The research reported in this manuscript is part of a postgraduate study and primary data will be made available through University of South Australia public access to the finalized thesis.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

PML:

Paper mill

HU:

Hazen units

TAL sensor:

EXO total algae PC smart sensor

AWQC:

Australian Water Quality Centre

LPP:

Large-scale pilot plant

SPP:

Small-scale pilot plant

ANZECC:

Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council

IPc:

Initial phycocyanin

FS ASB:

Full-scale ASB

ASB:

Aerated stabilization basin

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support granted by Kimberly-Clark Australia Pty Ltd. and by the University of South Australia. The authors thank Mr. Malcolm Abbott for sample collections, wastewater quality analyses and support and Mr. Graham Burch for project direction, support and advice. We thank Professor Christopher Chow for his valuable advice on culturing of cyanobacteria. The support of Mr. Max Zimmerman and Mr. Cédric Dajnak in facilitating laboratory and fieldwork is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the two reviewers for constructive comments that significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

The research was supported by Kimberly-Clark Australia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Scarce Resources and Circular Economy (ScaRCE), University of South Australia, H3-31, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    H. Burger, J. Awad, J. Marzouk & John van Leeuwen

  2. Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    John van Leeuwen

  3. CSIRO Land and Water, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA, 5064, Australia

    J. Awad

  4. SA Water Corporation, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia

    S. Dickson

  5. School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    S. Dickson

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  1. H. Burger
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  4. J. Marzouk
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  5. John van Leeuwen
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study reported in the manuscript. Mr. Hugh Burger is the principal author and researcher of the work reported, which is of his Ph.D. dissertation; he wrote first and subsequent manuscript drafts following co-author reviews, data acquisition and analysis, modelling of data, methodology, concept and design. Dr. Sandy Dickson provided resources—cultures of MIC338, contributed to methodology, interpretation of findings, manuscript review and editing. Dr. John Awad provided supervision, guidance on data interpretation, modelling of data, contributed to writing, review and editing. Mr. Josef Marzouk contributed to resources, experimental work, methodology and review. Prof. John van Leeuwen, corresponding author, provided supervision, guidance on data interpretation, modelling concepts, review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John van Leeuwen.

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Additional information

Editorial responsibility: Parveen Fatemeh Rupani.

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Burger, H., Dickson, S., Awad, J. et al. Investigation of cyanobacteria blooms in paper mill wastewaters and assessment of zinc as a control agent. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 1105–1120 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03198-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03198-1

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