Editing Algae (section)

===Pollution control===
* Sewage can be treated with algae,<ref>{{cite web |title=Re-imagining algae |date=12 October 2016 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url= http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/re-imagining-algae/7926214-AU |access-date=26 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043210/http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/re-imagining-algae/7926214 |archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> reducing the use of large amounts of toxic chemicals that would otherwise be needed.
* Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. When subsequently harvested, the enriched algae can be used as fertilizer.
* Aquaria and ponds can be filtered using algae, which absorb nutrients from the water in a device called an [[algae scrubber]], also known as an algae turf scrubber.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.reefbase.org/resource_center/publication/main.aspx?refid=10859 |title=Nutrient cycling in the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium – Proceedings of the 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, Australia |year=1988 |volume=2 |last1=Morrissey |first1=J. |last2=Jones |first2=M. S. |last3=Harriott |first3=V. |publisher=ReefBase |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150223045428/http://www.reefbase.org/resource_center/publication/main.aspx?refid=10859 |archive-date=23 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url= http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120083425/abstract |archive-url= https://archive.today/20101001181747/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120083425/abstract |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 October 2010 |title=Algal Response to Nutrient Enrichment in Forested Oligotrophic Stream |doi=10.1111/j.1529-8817.2008.00503.x |pmid=27041416 |volume=44 |issue=3 |journal=Journal of Phycology |pages=564–572 |year=2008 |last1=Veraart |first1=Annelies J. |last2=Romaní |first2=Anna M. |last3=Tornés |first3=Elisabet |last4=Sabater |first4=Sergi|bibcode= 2008JPcgy..44..564V |s2cid= 2040067 }}</ref>

[[Agricultural Research Service]] scientists found that 60–90% of nitrogen runoff and 70–100% of phosphorus runoff can be captured from [[manure effluents]] using a horizontal algae scrubber, also called an [[algal turf scrubber]] (ATS). Scientists developed the ATS, which consists of shallow, 100-foot raceways of nylon netting where algae colonies can form, and studied its efficacy for three years. They found that algae can readily be used to reduce the nutrient runoff from agricultural fields and increase the quality of water flowing into rivers, streams, and oceans. Researchers collected and dried the nutrient-rich algae from the ATS and studied its potential as an organic fertilizer. They found that cucumber and corn seedlings grew just as well using ATS organic fertilizer as they did with commercial fertilizers.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may10/algae0510.htm |title=Algae: A Mean, Green Cleaning Machine |publisher=USDA Agricultural Research Service |date=7 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101019142625/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may10/algae0510.htm |archive-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> Algae scrubbers, using bubbling upflow or vertical waterfall versions, are now also being used to filter aquaria and ponds.