ReviewWater environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation2025
Microalgal-bacterial aggregates for wastewater treatment: Origins, challenges, and future directions.
Review in Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Microalgal-bacterial aggregates for wastewater treatment: Origins, challenges, and future directions.Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · 2025Review
- Grid partitioning image analysis of highly aggregative bacteriumFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microalgal-bacterial aggregates are promising for wastewater treatment because they remove organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus while producing biomass that settles quickly. This review details the development of microalgal-bacterial aggregates, identifies key challenges, and proposes future research directions. While many studies have been performed in the laboratory with synthetic wastewater and artificial lighting, more research is needed to better understand how to form and sustain aggregates at larger scales with real wastewater and natural lighting. While it appears that microalgal-bacterial aggregates are unlikely to replace or augment conventional activated sludge, they have the potential to improve resource recovery in existing microalgae-based wastewater treatment processes (e.g., high-rate algal ponds). Alternatively, attached-growth bioreactors utilizing microalgal-bacterial consortia may be able to compete directly with conventional activated sludge while providing the benefits that microalgae offer, although additional research is needed. PRACTITIONER POINTS: More pilot and full-scale research on microalgal-bacterial processes is needed. Microalgae cultivation with short retention times is challenging. Attached-growth processes may allow for competitive footprint requirements.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.