Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2025
Early Detection of Cyanobacterial Blooms and Associated Cyanotoxins using Fast Detection Strategy
Published on: February 25, 2021
Eco-friendly management of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in eutrophic lakes through vertical flow multi-soil-layering
Roseline Prisca Aba1, Sofyan Sbahi2, Richard Mugani1
1National Center for Studies and Research on Water and Energy, Cadi Ayyad University, Av. Abdelkarim El Khattabi, P.O. Box: 511, 40000 Marrakech, Morocco; Water, Biodiversity and Climate change Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, P.O. Box 2390, Marrakech 40000, Morocco.
Abstract:
Eutrophication has led to the widespread occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms. Toxic cyanobacterial blooms with high concentrations of microcystins (MCs) have been identified in the Lalla Takerkoust reservoir in Morocco. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the Multi-Soil-Layering (MSL) ecotechnology in removing natural cyanobacterial blooms from the lake. Two MSL pilots were used in rectangular glass tanks (60 × 10 × 70 cm). They consisted of permeable layers (PLs) made of pozzolan and a soil mixture layer (SML) containing local soil, ferrous metal, charcoal and sawdust. The main difference between the two systems was the type of local soil used: sandy soil for MSL1 and clayey soil for MSL2. Both MSL pilots effectively reduced cyanobacterial cell concentrations in the treated water to very low levels (0.09 and 0.001 cells/mL). MSL1 showed a gradual improvement in MC removal from 52 % to 99 %, while MSL2 started higher at 90 % but dropped to 54% before reaching 86%. Both MSL systems significantly reduced organic matter levels (97.2 % for MSL1 and 95.8 % for MSL2). Both MSLs were shown to be effective in removing cyanobacteria, MCs, and organic matter with comparable performance.
