Bioremediation of Agro-Based Pulp Mill Effluent by Microbial Consortium Comprising Autochthonous Bacteria

Abstract

<jats:p>Small-scale agro-based pulp and paper mills are characterized as highly polluting industries. These mills use Kraft pulping process for paper manufacturing due to which toxic lignified chemicals are released into the environment. Lack of infrastructure, technical manpower, and research and development facilities restricts these mills to recover these chemicals. Therefore, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the emanating stream is quite high. For solving the above problem, four bacteria were isolated from the premises of agro-based pulp and paper mill which were identified as species of<jats:italic>Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Pannonibacter</jats:italic>, and<jats:italic>Ochrobacterum</jats:italic>. These bacteria were found capable of reducing COD up to 85%–86.5% in case of back water and 65-66% in case of back water : black liquor (60 : 40), respectively, after acclimatization under optimized conditions (pH 6.8, temperature 35°C, and shaking 200 rpm) when the wastewater was supplemented with nitrogen and phosphorus as trace elements.</jats:p>

Study of Biological Treatment of Paper-Pulp Effluent

“…Singh et al [65] investigated the mixed culture of two bacterial strains namely Bacillus and Serrantia marcescens, along with the addition of glucose and peptone and showed 90 % COD reduction in 7 days. Some other bacterial strains namely, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Pannonibacter and Ochrobacterium has been examined for reducing COD from mill effluent reporting 85-86.5 % efficiency at operating conditions of 200 rpm and pH = 6.8 [66]. Abd ElRahim & Zaki [51] and Murugesan [67] carry out the degradation of discharged black liquor from paper-pulp mill by two bacterial strains namely Pseudomonas putida and Acienetobacter calcoaceticus and indicated the 70-80 % COD and lignin degradation whereas, 80 % of colour reduction.…”

Mutagenicity of Wastewater Extracts from Pulp and Paper Industry

“…Five doses of each water extracts i.e. 1,5,10,20 and 40 µl/plate were plated in triplicate with 0.1 ml of the bacterial culture. After incubating the test sample and bacterial culture for 30 min at 37˚C, 2.0 ml top agar containing traces of histidine and biotin was added and contents were poured on minimal glucose agar plates.…”

“…Pulp and paper industries are water intensive industry and release effluent that contain a variety of naturally occurring polymers such as poly aromatic hydrocarbon, tannins, fatty acids, resin acids, lignin and its derivatives which are known for their resistance to degradation [1]. The chemicals formed during the process of pulping, bleaching and paper making have deleterious effect on aquatic life and they ultimately bioaccumulate and biomagnify in the food chain.…”

An Evaluation of Biological Approach for the Effluent Treatment of Paper Boards Industry - An Economic Perspective

“…If the pH is in acidic range fungi can become predominant than the bacteria which will results in poor settling. If the pH is too high it will affect the metabolic activity of the microbes which directly affects the treatment process [20]. For bacteria there is an orderly increase in growth rate between the minimum and maximum pH.…”