Strong Alliance of Microalgae and Bacteria: The State-of-the-Art Review and Future Prospects of Utilizing Microalgae-Bacteria Consortia for Comprehensive Treatment of Swine Wastewater

This review takes summarizing the interaction mechanisms between microalgae and bacteria as the starting point, aiming to outline the superiorities, influencing factors, and reinforcement strategies of microalgae-bacteria consortia in treating swine wastewater.

It is reported that approximately 1.12 × 10¹⁰ tons of swine wastewater is generated yearly. Swine wastewater contains copious nutrients and suspended solids (SS), as well as antibiotics, heavy metals, hormones, and pathogens; it will cause profound jeopardy to human health and the ecosystem without effective disposal. Fortunately, the constructed microalgae-bacteria consortia is a promising microbial treatment system that can efficiently treat swine wastewater. Several cases demonstrated that microalgae-bacteria consortia could remove more than 80% of nutrients and over 70% of heavy metals, antibiotics, and hormones in swine wastewater.

This review takes the interaction mechanisms of microalgae and bacteria as the starting point, expounds on why to use microalgae-bacteria consortia to treat swine wastewater, and then summarizes how to further improve the comprehensive treatment performance from the perspectives of influence factors and reinforcement strategies. Based on the above writing ideas, this review first introduces the interaction mechanisms between microalgae and bacteria in swine wastewater treatment and elaborates on the ascendancy of microalgae-bacteria consortia. Subsequently, the specific influence and corresponding pivotal mechanisms of swine wastewater characteristics and other factors on treatment effects are summarized. In addition, atmospheric and room-temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis, 3D/4D bioprinting, and other burgeoning strategies that can upgrade the treatment performance of swine wastewater are also recommended.