Determination of the relationship between algae composition and physico-chemical factors in Gaziantep GASKİ central wastewater treatment plant outlet water

The present study was aimed to determine relationship between algae composition and physico-chemical factors in the outlet water of the GASKİ central wastewater treatment plant between February 2019 and August 2020. A total of 38 algae species were identified during the study time and most of them belong to Bacillariophyta. Chlamydomonas globosa, Cryptomonas ovata, Gomphonema parvulum, Nitzschia palea, Oscillatoria tenuis, and Stigeoclonium tenue are common algal species. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to explain relationship between algal species and environmental factors during 12 months. Forward selection Monte Carlo permutation test demonstrated that precipitation, maximum air temperature, minimum air temperature, water temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, COD, and NO3 were found to be the most effective environmental factors. CCA reported the relationship between algae species and environmental factors at 92.1% in February-September 2019 and 94.1% in October 2019-August 2020. Determination of the algal composition and revealing speies-stressors relationship in wastewater gave very important information about which algae species can be used in wastewater treatment under various conditions.