If one could identify the major microbial contaminants in open ponds (assuming we could filter the macro contaminants using simple structures like greenhouses), is it possible to maintain the temperature and pH of the pond such that the contaminants cannot survive but the desired species of algae can?

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Covering ponds with translucent membranes or the use of greenhouses overcomes this problem, allowing the more productive strains to be grown free of atmospheric contamination.

In raceway ponds, large contaminants can be removed regularly by placing a suitably sized screen in the water flow. Heavy contaminants that sink to the bottom can be trapped in pits arranged at right angle to the flow and can then be removed from these sediment traps.

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I question the system of dual growth styles. If pure growth is maintained in an enclosure, then transferred to an open condition readily available to contamination from a miriad of sources, how do you keep any backtracking of toxic algae to the pure strain from happening?
With the right strain in a PBR chamber, total growth should be accomplished. What about strains that are harvestable twice or three times in a 24 hour period? The PBR used is all that is needed.
Exposure leads to contamination.
Labor is more intensive when using an open pond. Continual growing/harvesting while maintaining purity has been claimed over a three year period so far. That would ofset an additional cost for a permanent PBR system depreciable over 20 years.
I would look for a consistant production return per acre considering ALL costs to give me the required return annually.
Algae King3 I think can answer most all the above problems. deefone@yahoo.com

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All ponds have daily contamination issues and will never be used for commercial algae production. The Department of Energy's Aquatic Species Program was a complete failure and now has excluded algae from the Billion Ton Update. After extensive due diligence and talking to grant recipients show that algae projects are only 20% completed and may ponds are being mothballed. Between the heat and contamination issues, many ponds are shut down.

Look at the billions spent on pond research and look at the results! It was a flawed plan by the DOE. That is why the DOE's budget has been cut by $700-$900 billion dollars and they are moving algae out of the DOE and over to the USDA.

Look at the pond grant recipients in the US. Still not producing oil for fuel and now are looking for grants to research contamination issues. Contamination issues should have been addressed before the ponds were built. Pond research is finally coming to an end.

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ALDUO™ Patented Hybrid Algae Production System - Looks like a creative and quite likely effective idea - http://cellana.com/our-technology/

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Our stay-in-place PVC forms are perfect for minimizing contamination in concrete tank walls. - http://info.octaform.com/algae

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Which are the most harmful contaminants of microalgae in open ponds?

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