The removal effect of natural and modified zeolites containing different heavy metals (Ni2+, Zn2+, Fe3+ and Cu2+) on pure cultures of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in a solid medium was evaluated in this work. These experiments were carried out in a continuous mode treating municipal wastewater. Faecal coliform species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were identified. The rate constants of heavy metal lixiviation were determined using a first order kinetic model. The removal effect of modified natural zeolites in both a solid medium and in continuous mode showed an increased elimination of the bacterial population. The results established a decreasing order of the removal effect as follows: Cu2+ > Fe3+ > Zn2+ > Ni2+. The best performance of columns was obtained for inlet bacterial concentrations below 10(6) cells/100 ml. Most of the identified bacterial species were affected by copper modified zeolites, although Serratia marcescens presented the highest sensitivity and Klebsiella pneumoniae the greatest resistance.
Low-strength saline wastewater may be generated by tourist facilities, industries and communities located in coastal areas. Sea salts, mostly chlorides, when present in wastewaters at high concentrations, can cause inhibition on biological treatment processes. In this study, a laboratory down-flow anaerobic fixed bed reactor (DFAFBR) was used for treating saline wastewater. This wastewater was simulated by dilution of piggery manure in a synthetic saline water to obtain a final total COD concentration in the range of 1100-2900 mg/l and a salt concentration of 15 g/l. The DFAFBR was operated at hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 96, 48, 24 and 12 h. The results showed that at sea salts concentrations in the range from 5 to 15 g/l, total coliform concentration reduction efficiencies higher than 97% were achieved. A decrease in the total and faecal coliform concentration reduction efficiencies from 99.5% to 90.5% and 92.5%, respectively, was observed when the HRT decreased from 96 to 12 h. Enumeration of coliform bacteria isolated from the biofilm in different zones of the reactor showed that more than 94% of the total amount was removed in the upper zone. A HRT of 24 h was required to obtain total COD, organic-N, total-P and faecal coliform concentration reduction efficiencies higher than 72%, 51%, 39% and 98%, respectively. A concentration of 8.4 g/l for chlorides, 1.25 g/l for sulphates and 4.6 g/l for sodium did not affect the process performance.
Constructed wetlands (CWs) offer several advantages for treating waters; however, the successful application of these systems remains a challenge. Practical solutions to pollution through CWs remain incipient because wetlands are still studied as "black boxes"; further studies are required regarding the involvement of rhizosphere bacteria in the removal of pollutants. This research focused on increasing the performance of CWs treatment systems for the removal of inorganic and organic pollutants from domestic wastewater, by the application of native bioremediating rhizobacteria. A bacterial consortium (CAD/1S) was designed with four rhizobacteria strains isolated from Typha domingensis plants of natural wetlands. Each individual strain was identified by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. This consortium removed organic matter, ammonium, and phosphate with percentages over 70% from model wastewater. The evaluation of abiotic and biotic factors' influence on pollutant removal indicated the best conditions to remove pollutants: a neutral pH, a 72-h contact time, and an inoculum from single growth of each strain. The subsequent bioaugmentation with the consortium of CWs at laboratory scale allowed 100%, greater than 70 and 55% removal of organic matter, ammonium, and phosphate, respectively. The set of results allowed the proposal of a new strategy for the improvement of CWs technology for the treatment of domestic wastewater pollutants.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.