The effect of cooling seawater effluents of a power plant on growth rate of cultured Gracilaria conferta (Rhodophyta)

The effect of cooling seawater effluents of a power plant on the growth rate of Gracilaria conferta in tanks has been studied, as a possible solution for the decrease in the winter growth rate in ambient seawater tanks. The Gracilaria cultures did not survive more than 2–8 weeks in the power plant effluents during the one-year-long repeated experiments. The major reason was the high accumulation of copper, iron, lead and chromium from the power plant effluents as compared to concentrations in Gracilaria cultured in ambient seawater. The survival increased and the copper accumulation decreased significantly when the effluents were passed through an Ulva biofilter.