Removal of Mercury(Hg) and Arsenic(As) from waste water using biological route

Abstract

Several detoxification techniques have been accounted to treat the waste water containing heavy metals. These methods are included like physical, chemical, thermal or biological processes. Biological routes have been attracted recently because they are contemplated to be environmentally benign and economically reasonable. The method of Bioremediation focuses on detoxification of waste water containing heavy metals employing micro-organism. We aimed to remove Arsenic and Mercury from waste water based on the principles of bioremediation. The Bacterial strains used for our purpose are Pseudomonas-putida. This method proved to be advantageous in many ways as compared to other methods available. It was found that the bacteria could adapt with the contaminated environment and thus was successful in removing a substantial amount of the toxic metals from the waste water. Detoxification was achieved by immobilizing Micro-organisms on packing material(Rice husk), and waste water was continuously passed through the micro-organism immobilized rice husk. The removal of metals was quantified by AAS analysis. Additionally, using a detailed mass balance we have developed a mathematical model to estimate the elimination of metal from waste water by implementing micro-organism. We concluded that our predicted results from the simulation are validated with our experimental outcome.