EVALUATION OF THE REMOVAL CAPACITY OF LEAD AND COPPER IN CONTAMINATEDWATER USING THE ALGAE SPIROGYRA SP

Algae are widely used in the removal of heavy metals. Thus, the Spirogyra sp algae were used to remove Copper (II) and Lead (II) in this research. For each treatment, biomass doses of 20, 30, and 40 mg/L were used for 14 days, evaluating the removal of metals and physicochemical parameters such as DO, EC, and TDS. The results showed removals of 78.78% and 98.76% for Cu and Pb, respectively. The removal of Pb (II) and Cu (II) was directly related to the physicochemical characteristics of the effluent and the amount of biomass used, showing the potential of Spirogyra sp algae and its possible use in the treatment of wastewater. The results show revealed that algae cells were saturated at an equilibrium concentration of> 9 mg / L for Pb and> 15 mg / L for Cu. Also, it was observed that the removal of Pb (II) and Cu (II) was directly related to the physicochemical characteristics (such as pH) and the amount of biomass used in the experiments.