Isolation and Development of Efficient Bacterial Consortia for Bioremediation of Textile Dye Effluent

Abstract

In this study, the ability of bacterial strains isolated from the textile mill site was analyzed for de-colorization of dye effluent. The isolated strains were finally identified by 16S rDNA sequence analysis as Bacillus species and were used for the process of bioremediation. The physicochemical characterization of the effluent generated was also carried out. The effluent was analyzed for its physicochemical properties before and after treatment. Samples were analyzed in UV spectrophotometer and showed the absorption maxima at wavelength of 668 nm. The bacterial strain was found to have sorptive capacity, immobilized on nutrient agar medium. The effluent was treated in a flask containing minimum salt medium, 20% dye effluent and 5% (w/v) of bacterial pellet. The flask was placed in an incubator shaker at 37°C and 200 rpm. After inoculation the sample was analyzed in visible spectrophotometer after every six hours and it was found that 90% de-colorization and 70% reduction in COD was achieved after 24 hours. Heavy metals were also biosorptioned. It was concluded that the isolated bacteria represented a promising application in bioremediation process of textile industrial effluent and possible reusability of the cells for its commercial application can be achieved.