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Alkalophilic bacterial co-cultures for the remediation of toxic pollutants in textile wastewater

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Abstract

Immense industrial growth contributed to tremendous pollution of the environment from a variety of sources. Bioremediation of different toxicants, such as heavy metals and dyes, is greatly appreciated for its cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach. The bacterial strains isolated from textile dye-contaminated soil samples were used in the study for the removal of the toxic pollutants. The bacterial strains were molecularly identified as E. hormaechei subsp. steigerwaltii and Bacillus sp. B2022 using 16S rRNA sequencing. The preliminary batch study results of the bacterial co-cultures showed a maximum removal efficiency of 88.57 ± 0.005% on mixed dyes and 90.18 ± 0.005% on Cr (VI) respectively. The scale-up laboratory-sized batch reactor showed the results were the maximum removal percentage of 77.68 ± 0.005% with mixed dyes and 52.79 ± 0.005% on Cr (VI) observed for 6 days. The degraded metabolites analyzed by FT-IR revealed the presence of C-H, C = O, C-O, and C–Cl functional groups. The GC–MS study showed the presence of few metabolites such as decane, undecane, 2,4,6-trimethyl decane, butyl tetradecyl ester phthalic acid, and 2,6,10 trimethyl tetradecane. The integrated treatment approach of applying different techniques in a single platform is positively encouraged in the era of urbanization and industrialization.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank DST-FIST, Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Chennai, IIT Madras and VIT, Vellore for their assistance in the experimental analysis. We are also obliged to Tamil Nadu State council for Science and Technology, Chennai, for the financial aid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Chennai, India

    Anisha Susan Johnson, Leena Merlin Biju & K. Veena Gayathri

  2. Department of Microbiology, Kumararani Meena Muthiah College of Arts & Science, Chennai, India

    Leena Merlin Biju

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Kalavakkam, 603110, Tamil Nadu, India

    P. Senthil Kumar & C. S. Poorva

  4. Centre of Excellence in Water Research (CEWAR), Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Kalavakkam, 603110, Tamil Nadu, India

    P. Senthil Kumar & C. S. Poorva

  5. Department of Biotechnology Engineering and Food Technology, Chandigarh University, Mohali, 140413, India

    P. Senthil Kumar

  6. School of Engineering, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon

    Gayathri Rangasamy

  7. Department of Sustainable Engineering, Institute of Biotechnology, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai, 602105, India

    Gayathri Rangasamy

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  1. Anisha Susan Johnson
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Contributions

Anisha Susan Johnson: investigation, methodology, and writing — original draft. Leena Merlin Biju: investigation, resources, and formal analysis. P. Senthil Kumar, K. Veena Gayathri: conceptualization, validation, and supervision. Gayathri Rangasamy, C.S. Poorva: formal analysis; data curation; validation.

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Johnson, A.S., Biju, L.M., Kumar, P.S. et al. Alkalophilic bacterial co-cultures for the remediation of toxic pollutants in textile wastewater. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04549-3

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