Advanced techniques to remove phosphates and nitrates from waters: a review

At high levels, phosphates and nitrates from mineral fertilizers and wastewaters are contaminating natural waters, leading, for example, to eutrophication and death of many living species. This requires remediation techniques such as physical, chemical, biological methods, and nano-techniques. For instance, microbes such as Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris allow denitrification and can remove 55% of phosphates. Removal can be done also using adsorbents produced from wastes and bio-sorbents. Here we compare the methods to remove phosphates and nitrates in waters.