Phototrophic biofilms on the interior walls of concrete Iterson-type cooling towers

Algae and cyanobacteria form noticeable biofilms in the open spaces of natural draught cooling towers. In spite of this, our knowledge of these communities is still poor. During this study, phototrophic biofilms of seven cooling towers at four different plants in the Czech Republic were collected and studied in order to obtain information on the composition of the communities of these biofilms. Fresh material and cultures of collected material were analyzed with light microscopy. Twenty-five cyanobacterial and four algal taxa were found.