Seasonal variation of different microorganisms with nickel and cadmium in the industrial wastewater and agricultural soils

Abstract

Wastewater and soil samples were collected from the industrial area of Ghaziabad City, India from January 2005 to December 2007 and were analyzed for the presence of heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Test samples revealed high levels of Fe, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Cd as 967.03, 34.63, 27.97, 19.7, 16.70, and 3.20 mg/L of wastewater, respectively. The concentrations of inorganic minerals were higher in the soil samples irrigated with wastewater. Total coliforms were found to be maximum (1,133x10(4) most probable number per 100 mL) during spring and summer followed by winter and postmonsoon in the wastewater samples. The microbial count in soil as well as in wastewater decreases as the metal concentration increases. The concentration 200 microg/mL of nickel and cadmium inhibits majority of the population, while, at some points, it inhibits 100% of the population. The exponential decay model for microbial count at the increasing metal concentrations indicate that asymbiotic N2 fixers were best fitted to the model. In all the seasons, the order of decline in terms of exponential decay of the population of different microbial groups in soil was asymbiotic N2 fixers>actinomycetes>fungi>aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. The different microbial groups that have different values of slope in different seasons indicate that the resistant population of microorganisms was variable with seasons.