BIOREMEDIATION OF TEXTILE EFFLUENT SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM SANGANER INDUSTRIAL AREA

Megha Bansal, Rajesh Kumar Yadav*

   Department of Life Sciences, Suresh GyanVihar University, Jaipur

*Department of Environmental, Science S.S. Jain Subodh P.G. College Jaipur (Raj.)

               *Corresponding Author: subodhproject@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Textile processing requires ample of raw resources, equipments and processes to produce the required figure with required properties of the end product as per the demand of market. Waste runoff generated in this manufacturing unit is essentially based on various activities of wet processing in textiles. The effluent generated in the different steps of textile processing is beyond the standard limits of discharge from a textile industry and thus it is highly polluted and unsafe. Effluent derived from the textile and dyestuff activities can provoke serious environmental impact in the neighboring receptor water bodies because of the presence of toxic reactive dyes. The discharge of these waste residues into the environment eventually poison, damage or affect one or more species in the environment, with resultant changes in the ecological balance. The biological breakdown of the residues obtained as result of textile processing can be accomplished by the use of microbes flourishing in the effluent itself. This paper summarizes the use of these bacterial strains for bioremediation purposes.

Key Words: Effluent, Leachate, Textile waste, Microbe, Heavy metal

INTRODUCTION

Universal pollution is escalating due to natural and anthropogenic activities leading to contamination of various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems with heavy metals, non-living, crude compounds and radioactive materials. With ever-increasing heavy metal and organic compounds pollution, ecosystems have been, and are being infected, which not only cause on site troubles, but also off site contamination by migration of dust and leachate to surrounding environment.      

Heavy metal contaminates the aquatic surroundings and sources of drinkable water, because of their known accumulation in the food chain and their persistence in nature, when they are discharged in small quantities by numerous industrial activities. The need for cost-effective, efficient and secure methods for removing heavy metals from waste waters has resulted in the search for unconventional materials, which can be useful in reducing the levels or accumulation of heavy metals in the environment. Some microbes had developed, metal sequestering properties, like biomass of fungi, yeast, bacteria, algae and plants, offer significant promise in terms of providing a cost effective process, for removing toxic heavy metals from the industrial effluents[2],[3],[6],[7]. Microbial activities in the natural atmosphere are the key processes that take away, mobilize or detoxify heavy metals and radioactive materials[4],[5]. The actions can be exploited to clean up toxic wastes with heavy metal high concentrations, before they enter the atmosphere and such biotechnological processes are used to control pollution from different sources. The study of microorganisms that are capable of resist and survive in polluted environments provides the basic information for bioremediation.

Bioremediation is good at its job and is a low outlay method available for reclaiming the soils and water which have been polluted. The present study was carried out in order to determine the effects caused by textile effluent on water and, as well as the macro and micro flora present in its environment, and to develop an indigenous remediation technology for cleaning up heavy metal ions and organic pollutants associated with the textile industry effluent. Traditional methods for the cleanup of pollutants usually involve, the removal of unwanted materials through sedimentation and filtration, and subsequent chemical treatments such as flocculation, neutralization and electro-dialysis before disposal. These processes may not guarantee adequate treatment of the effluent. Moreover, they are often laborious and expensive, considering the volume of wastes released during the industrial production process.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study Area

Jaipur is situated in the eastern part of Rajasthan. Jaipur is located at 26°55′N 75°49′E (26.92°N 75.82°E). Besides other products Jaipur is famous for cloth dyeing industry. The study area selected was textile cluster units of Jaipur region. These clusters units at Jaipur use lot of water during dye processing and then the untreated waste water from these units is directly discharged into the small nalla going from their houses which are then ultimately drained into Dravyavati River.

Sample Collection and Measurement of Physiochemical Parameters

Wastewater samples were collected in different glass bottles from Sanganer and Sitapura industrial area, Jaipur (Rajasthan). Prior to collection different glass bottles were washed with 8M HNO3 solution followed by repeated washing with distilled water. Some physicochemical parameters of wastewater viz., temperature, pH, conductivity, hardness, chloride content, BOD, COD, alkalinity and TDS were measured [1].

Bacterial Isolation and Cultivation

Serial dilution method was used for isolation of bacteria from effluent using distilled water as diluent. Each of the dilution (0.1mL) was spread on Nutrient Agar (NA) plates in duplicate, which was incubated for 48 hours at 28oC, and then the colonies were counted on a colony counter. Original broth culture viable cells, colony forming units (CFU) per mL, will be calculated according to the following formula:

CFU/ mL= (number of colonies X dilution factor)/ size of inoculums.

Isolated colonies were characterized and identified using standard methods.

Results

 Here, the microorganisms obtained from effluents were supposed to be highly tolerant ones because they were residing in highly unnatural environment, and hence it was supposed that they must have capacity to reduce heavy metals i.e. biosorption.

 Therefore isolated microbes were utilized for reducing the level of pollutants from effluents. And to check out the success of bioremediation the physical and chemical characterization of the samples was again carried out after treating the samples with microbes. Although many bacterial strains were obtained from the effluent samples but the strains which were used for bioremediation experiment in the present study were the only which could be unmistakably isolated. The difference in previous values and in the values after treatment depicts the success of bio-treatment over conventional techniques. Table 2 and Table 3 give the comparison of physicochemical parameters before and after bioremediation for the samples collected during 2013 and 2014 respectively. Most of the parameters were found to move towards their normal range after the treatment.

The values of pH for the samples of year 2013 showed the decrease of its value towards neutral by the use of P. fluorescenes andAlcaligenes sp. While Bacillus sp. reduced the pH value to acidic i.e. to 6.9. Electrical conductivity values were also reduced by all the isolates used. Previously it was ranging between 2.9 to 3.5mS/cm and after bioremediation it ranged from 1.3 to 2.14. Total suspended and total dissolved solids also showed a reduction of almost 50% in their values after treating with P. fluorescenes, Alcaligenes sp. and Bacillus sp. Similarly BOD and COD of the test effluent samples under bioremediation were decreased to more than 60%. Same strains were also used to treat the effluent samples collected during 2014. All the physical and chemical analysis results were in line to the results obtained in 2013 i.e. these strains were again reported to reduce the value of toxicants from the effluents.

CONCLUSION

No doubt bioremediation is a promising task for industries and waste water treating persons. The results from this study and many literatures present a great capability of bacteria to be utilized for bioremediation processes. The reduction in BOD, COD, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity is significant. These results conclude that the bacterial isolates are adaptive in nature and can degrade pollutants. Bacteria ability to adapt and degrade toxicants from textile effluents at considerable concentration presents it as an advantage for textile runoff treatment.

REFERENCES

1. APHA, (1989): Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. APHA,18th ed. Washington, DC.
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TABLE 2: COMPARISION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS BEFORE AND AFTER BIOREMEDIATION
FOR 2013.

TABLE 3: COMPARISION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS BEFORE AND AFTER BIOREMEDIATION FOR 2014.