| Algae species | Features | Development circumstances | Usual genera |
| Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) | Carry phycocyanin, allophycocyanin, and chlorophyll a; give blue, blue-green color. Generate cyanotoxins, carry out oxygenic photosynthesis. | Warm, eutrophic water, above 25˚C | Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Microcystis, Oscillatoria |
| Green algae | Carry chlorophyll a and b, green color. Some genera are related to disagreeable taste and odor and filter clogging issues. | Summer | Ankistrodesmus, Chlamydomonas, Chlorella, Scenedesmus |
| Euglenoids | Carry chlorophyll a and b, green color, capable of photosynthesis. | Summer |
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| Dinoflagellates | Capable of photosynthesis and feeding on bacteria, small planktonic algae. Brownish color, some genera are linked with an undesirable taste and odor issues, 90% of them live in the ocean. | Summer and fall | Ceratium, Peridinium |
| Cryptomonads | Carry chlorophyll a and c2, and pigments masking the color of chlorophyll. May seem blue, blue-green, reddish, yellow-brown, olive-green. Light sensitive and prefer nutrient-enriched water. | Temperate climate throughout winter | Cryptomonas, Chroomonas, Rhodomonas |
| Yellow green algae | Rarely existing in large quantities. Carry chlorophyll a, β-carotene, and many pigments. Look yellow-green, bright green. | Low temperature | Tribonema |
| Golden algae | Frequently related to unwanted taste and odor. | Summer | Synura, Dinobryon |
| Diatom | Frequently related to undesirable taste, odor and filter clogging. Seem in brown color. Siliceous cell wall contains polymerized silicic acid. Perform oxygenic photosynthesis at a water temperature of 5˚C. | Spring, oligotrophic waters, optimum temperature at 10˚C - 20˚C | Asterionella, Cyclotella, Tabellaria, Fragilaria, Melosira |