The Effect of Biostimulation and Biostimulation-Bioaugmentation on Biodegradation of Oil-Pollution on Sandy Beaches Using Mesocosms

Abstract

To investigate a suitable biological remediation approaches for anticipating oil spills in Cilacap sandy beach (Indonesia), some alternative strategies using biostimulation and a combination of biostimulation-bioaugmentation have been evaluated in inter tidal near shore Cilacap, Indonesia. The purpose of the study was to compare the efficacy of biostimulation using slow release fertilizer (SRF) only, combination of biostimulation-single strain bioaugmentation, and combination of biostimulation-consortium bioaugmentation, to enhance oil degradation. The experiment was conducted using sediment polluted 100,000 ppm Arabian Light Crude Oil in a mesocosm system for 90 days. The parameters measured were oil depletion, bacterial growth and changes in environmental conditions. The results showed that the affectivity on oil depletion of biostimulation-bioaugmentation combination was observed faster and higher than biostimulation only. At the 16 th day application, the biostimulation with the added consortium and single strain treatment, increased oil depletion percentage by 2.2 and 1.6 times that of the control, respectively. For a longer period of treatment, both of combination treatments showed similar efficacy in degrading oil contamination in sandy beach. It is proposed that combination of biostimulation-bioaugmentation with the consortium is relatively better alternative for combating oil-pollution for a short period.