In the present study, the enrichment and isolation of textile effluent decolorizing bacteria were carried out in wheat bran (WB) medium. The isolated bacterium Providencia rettgeri strain HSL1 was then tested for decolorization of textile effluent in consortium with a dyestuff degrading fungus Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM 1146. Decolorization study suggests that A. ochraceus NCIM 1146 and P. rettgeri strain HSL1 alone re moves only 6 and 32% of textile effluent American Dye Manufacturing Institute respectively in 30 h at 30 ±0.2°C of microaerophilic incubation, while the fungal-bacterial consortium does 92% ADMI removal within the same time period. The fungal-bacterial consortium exhibited enhanced decolorization rate due to the induction in activities of catalytic enzymes laccase (196%), lignin peroxidase (77%), azoreductase (80%) and NADH-DCIP reductase (84%). The HPLC analysis confirmed the biodegradation of textile effluent into various metabolites. Detoxification studies of textile effluent before and after treatment with fungal-bacterial consortium revealed reduced toxicity of degradation metabolites. The efficient degradation and detoxification by fungal-bacterial consortium pre-grown in agricultural based medium thus suggest a promising approach in designing low-cost treatment technologies for textile effluent.
The accumulation and translocation of trace metals in soil and in sugarcane crop irrigated with treated effluents from sugar industry compared to soil and sugarcane crop irrigated with bore-well water were determined. In the present study the impact of irrigation with treated effluent from the sugar industry on the trace metal contamination of sugarcane juice was assessed. It revealed that the mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu, Mn and Zn in the soil of fields irrigated with effluent and in juice from sugarcane grown on such fields were higher than those from bore-well water irrigated fields. The concentrations of trace metals in treated effluent exceeded the permissible limits of the Indian standards (Central Pollution Control Board-2000). The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in juice of sugarcane grown on fields irrigated with effluent also exceeded the permissible limits of Indian standards and WHO/FAO expert committee recommendations. Their concentrations in juice of sugarcane grown in fields irrigated with bore-well water were within the limits of safety, except for Cd. The transfer factor for Zn was considerably higher than those of the other trace metals. The metal concentrations of sugarcane juice showed significant correlations with those of soil, which was not the case when bore well water was used for irrigation.
Carbon dioxide sequestration and its long-term immobilisation in biomass is recently an extremely significant problem. Its greatest reserves occur in forests growing all over the globe. A human being, through their conscious action, ought to affect, among other things, the amount of carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere and its rational management. Here, quite a good solution seems to be the immobilisation of CO2 in biomass of plants, and in particular, in trees, characterised by their longevity, which are used most frequently for that purpose.
Such carbon dioxide management allows for its several-decade immobilisation within living plants, while a further processing of wood mass allows for halting it for consecutive years in products manufactured. Additionally, in the case when within a selected land planted with trees the effluent irrigation is being carried out, simultaneous sewage treatment is also an advantage. By using plants characterised by intense increment in biomass within facilities, also biogens occurring in effluents may be effectively removed.
In the analysed case, sewage treatment consisted in entry of household sewage into a prepared surface which was previously subject to mechanical purification. All the sections were sown with grass mixture and plantings of poplar were used. Observations were made during the period of 17 years. The effluents entered onto the surface of the sections and the effluents outflowing from the facility were subject to a physicochemical analysis in order to determine the operational efficiency of a plant - soil treatment system. Also, a threefold inventory of a forest stand was made in order to determine the increment in trees.
The last inventory was made in 2014. Based on dendrological characteristics, the average volume of wood mass obtained from the land irrigated with effluents was assessed.
A rational management of effluents on the grounds without any central drainage allows for a parallel solution to some problems. First of all, purification of effluents in a natural environment by closing the matter cycle, and additionally contributing to the limitation of carbon dioxide emission by its halting in plant biomass.
The paper presents preliminary results of investigations on a relationship between turbidity and other quality parameters in the SBR plant effluent. The laboratory tests demonstrated a high correlation between an effluent turbidity and a total suspended solids (TSS) concentration as well as between TSS and COD. Such a relationship would help to continuously monitor and control quality of a wastewater discharge using turbidity measurement.