Abstract

California is facing a water crisis due to the lack of rain in the recent years. If California continues without rain, California will eventually run out of fresh water. Residents are asked to reduce their intake by a 20% decrease and the cost to consume water is increasing rapidly. At this point, California cannot afford to waste any water. Because of the high demands of water, Agricultural businesses have increased their prices and pay a lot more for extensive water cleaning equipment. In order to recycle water, it is questioned if algae can replace water-cleaning equipment. In order to work toward this goal, the experiment observed the growth of Dunaliella primolecta, Scenedesmus dimorphus, and Chlorella vulgaris over the course of a couple weeks in various NPK levels. When the optimal NPK media was found, Orchid Grow More was used along with the wastewater in order to help the algae grow faster. In order to determine if algae can really clean out the organic material in wastewater, the COD (chemical oxygen demand) was observed before and after inoculation. Decreased levels of COD would confirm that algae are in fact able to filter and clean out wastewater.

Disciplines

Biology

Mentor

Alejandro Calderon-Urrea

Lab site

California State University, Fresno (CSU Fresno)

Funding Acknowledgement

This material is based upon work supported by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0952013. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation or the National Science Foundation. This project has also been made possible with support of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The STAR program is administered by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) on behalf of the California State University (CSU)., This material is based upon work supported by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0952013 and Grant No. 0833353. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation or the National Science Foundation. This project has also been made possible with support of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The STAR program is administered by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) on behalf of the California State University (CSU)., This material is based upon work supported by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0952013 and Grant No. 0934931. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation or the National Science Foundation. This project has also been made possible with support of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The STAR program is administered by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) on behalf of the California State University (CSU)., This material is based upon work supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of HHMI. This work was administered by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESAME) and the Fresno State Science and Mathematics Education Center (SMEC) on behalf of the California State University.

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/243

 

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