Effect of three commercial algaecides on cyanobacteria and microcystin-LR: implications for drinking water treatment using activated carbon.

Toxic cyanobacterial blooms in aquatic ecosystems are associated to both public health and environmental concerns worldwide. Depending on the treatment technologies used, the removal capacity of cyanotoxins by drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) is not sufficient to reach safe levels in drinking water. Likewise, controlling these blooms with algaecide may impair the efficiency of DWTPs due to the possible lysis of cyanobacterial cells and consequent release of cyanotoxins.