Effects of Yucca shidigera Extract and Microalgae on the Reduction of Ammonia Concentration in Lake Koumoundourou
(2013) BIOM35 20121Degree Projects in Biology
- Abstract
- Abstract
Extract of Yucca shidigera and microalgae have been proved effective in reducing ammonia in livestock industries and aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the effect of yucca extract and microalgae on the reduction of ammonia in a laboratory experiment using water from Lake Koumoundourou. Yucca extract was added at 0 ml/L, 0.2 ml/L, 0.6 ml/L, 1 ml/L, 2 ml/L to fish tanks containing lake water and sediment collected from Lake Koumoundourou. Three species of microalgae were also added to fish tanks containing Koumoundourou Lake water. The results show that yucca extract significantly reduced the concentration of ammonia and the more yucca extract was added, the more ammonia was removed, while microalgae removed ammonia for... (More) - Abstract
Extract of Yucca shidigera and microalgae have been proved effective in reducing ammonia in livestock industries and aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the effect of yucca extract and microalgae on the reduction of ammonia in a laboratory experiment using water from Lake Koumoundourou. Yucca extract was added at 0 ml/L, 0.2 ml/L, 0.6 ml/L, 1 ml/L, 2 ml/L to fish tanks containing lake water and sediment collected from Lake Koumoundourou. Three species of microalgae were also added to fish tanks containing Koumoundourou Lake water. The results show that yucca extract significantly reduced the concentration of ammonia and the more yucca extract was added, the more ammonia was removed, while microalgae removed ammonia for two days and did not survive afterwards. Water quality was stable except that dissolved oxygen was reduced in both experiments. The study indicates that applying yucca extract and microalgae are potential ways to treat lakes with ammonia pollution, but further experiments in larger scales are needed in order to be certain about their efficacy. (Less) - Abstract
- Popular science summary:
New approaches for treating lakes with ammonia pollution
Extract of Yucca shidigera, a desert plant, has been used in aquaculture to control ammonia in the water. Microalgae has been proved effective in removing ammonia and phosphorous from wastewater of agriculture and aquaculture. Therefore, it is possible that they could remove ammonia from lakes. Hence, several fish tanks were filled with water from Lake Koumoundourou, and yucca extract or microalgae was added to see if ammonia concentration was reduced. The results show that yucca extract significantly reduced the concentration of ammonia and the more yucca extract was added, the more ammonia was removed while microalgae removed ammonia for two days yet... (More) - Popular science summary:
New approaches for treating lakes with ammonia pollution
Extract of Yucca shidigera, a desert plant, has been used in aquaculture to control ammonia in the water. Microalgae has been proved effective in removing ammonia and phosphorous from wastewater of agriculture and aquaculture. Therefore, it is possible that they could remove ammonia from lakes. Hence, several fish tanks were filled with water from Lake Koumoundourou, and yucca extract or microalgae was added to see if ammonia concentration was reduced. The results show that yucca extract significantly reduced the concentration of ammonia and the more yucca extract was added, the more ammonia was removed while microalgae removed ammonia for two days yet did not survive afterwards.
Human activity has produced high concentration of ammonia in many lakes. Urban waste disposal and fertilizer leaching are two major reasons. Ammonia is toxic to aquatic organisms, especially fish. As little as 0.5 mg/L free ammonia can harm finfish and crustaceans. The extract of Yucca shidigera, a desert plant, has been used to control ammonia in fishing ground, and has also been used as an additive to animal feed to reduce ammonia concentration in digestive tract. Some microalgae has been used to treat wastewaters with high ammonia concentration since they use ammonia as a nitrogen source. Therefore, yucca extract and microalgae are studied for their efficacy of ammonia removal using water taken from Lake Koumoundourou, a small lake in Athens, Greece.
For the experiment with yucca extract, 12 tanks were filled with 5L water from Lake Koumoundourou. Five concentrations of yucca extract (0 ml/L, 0.2 ml/L, 0.6 ml/L, 1 ml/L and 2 ml/L) and three concentrations of ammonium chloride (0 mg/L, 3 mg/L, 6 mg/L) were added. Ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration were measured every 12 hours for 180 hours. For the experiment with microalgae, 8 tanks were filled with 5L water from the lake. Three different species of microalgae and one concentration of ammonium chloride (6 mg/L) was added. Ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, pH and DO concentration were measured every 2 or 3 days for 16 days.
Yucca extract effectively reduced the concentration of ammonia nitrogen, and the higher the concentration of yucca extract was, the more ammonia nitrogen was reduced. 1 ml/L yucca extract can remove 3 mg/L ammonia nitrogen, and 2 ml/L yucca extract can remove 6 mg/L ammonia nitrogen. However, yucca extract caused significant drop of DO and pH, which are harmful to fish in the lake. However, these side effects might not exist when applying yucca extract to lakes since a lake ecosystem has natural mechanisms to balance and eliminate these adverse effects. Microalgae didn't survive in the experiment, perhaps due to poor aeration and light condition. In order to be certain about the efficacy of yucca extract and microalgae, further studies in larger scales are needed.
Advisor: Elias Dimitrou
Master´s Degree project 30 credits in Aquatic Ecology, 2012
Department of Biology, Lund University (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4057198
- author
- Yu, Xiaoxi
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BIOM35 20121
- year
- 2013
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 4057198
- date added to LUP
- 2013-09-19 15:49:56
- date last changed
- 2013-09-19 15:49:56
@misc{4057198,
abstract = {{Popular science summary:
New approaches for treating lakes with ammonia pollution
Extract of Yucca shidigera, a desert plant, has been used in aquaculture to control ammonia in the water. Microalgae has been proved effective in removing ammonia and phosphorous from wastewater of agriculture and aquaculture. Therefore, it is possible that they could remove ammonia from lakes. Hence, several fish tanks were filled with water from Lake Koumoundourou, and yucca extract or microalgae was added to see if ammonia concentration was reduced. The results show that yucca extract significantly reduced the concentration of ammonia and the more yucca extract was added, the more ammonia was removed while microalgae removed ammonia for two days yet did not survive afterwards.
Human activity has produced high concentration of ammonia in many lakes. Urban waste disposal and fertilizer leaching are two major reasons. Ammonia is toxic to aquatic organisms, especially fish. As little as 0.5 mg/L free ammonia can harm finfish and crustaceans. The extract of Yucca shidigera, a desert plant, has been used to control ammonia in fishing ground, and has also been used as an additive to animal feed to reduce ammonia concentration in digestive tract. Some microalgae has been used to treat wastewaters with high ammonia concentration since they use ammonia as a nitrogen source. Therefore, yucca extract and microalgae are studied for their efficacy of ammonia removal using water taken from Lake Koumoundourou, a small lake in Athens, Greece.
For the experiment with yucca extract, 12 tanks were filled with 5L water from Lake Koumoundourou. Five concentrations of yucca extract (0 ml/L, 0.2 ml/L, 0.6 ml/L, 1 ml/L and 2 ml/L) and three concentrations of ammonium chloride (0 mg/L, 3 mg/L, 6 mg/L) were added. Ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration were measured every 12 hours for 180 hours. For the experiment with microalgae, 8 tanks were filled with 5L water from the lake. Three different species of microalgae and one concentration of ammonium chloride (6 mg/L) was added. Ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, pH and DO concentration were measured every 2 or 3 days for 16 days.
Yucca extract effectively reduced the concentration of ammonia nitrogen, and the higher the concentration of yucca extract was, the more ammonia nitrogen was reduced. 1 ml/L yucca extract can remove 3 mg/L ammonia nitrogen, and 2 ml/L yucca extract can remove 6 mg/L ammonia nitrogen. However, yucca extract caused significant drop of DO and pH, which are harmful to fish in the lake. However, these side effects might not exist when applying yucca extract to lakes since a lake ecosystem has natural mechanisms to balance and eliminate these adverse effects. Microalgae didn't survive in the experiment, perhaps due to poor aeration and light condition. In order to be certain about the efficacy of yucca extract and microalgae, further studies in larger scales are needed.
Advisor: Elias Dimitrou
Master´s Degree project 30 credits in Aquatic Ecology, 2012
Department of Biology, Lund University}},
author = {{Yu, Xiaoxi}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Effects of Yucca shidigera Extract and Microalgae on the Reduction of Ammonia Concentration in Lake Koumoundourou}},
year = {{2013}},
}