Bacillus Subtilis Bacteria as a Biosorbent for Dye Removal from Industrial Water Effluents

Abstract

World's present concerns are driven towards securing a sustainable water source in order to save our plant and deliver a safer future for mankind. The use of synthetic dyes is increasing in many areas. Synthetic dyes have been widely used in many industries such as textile, tannery, food, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, paint, plastics, the effluent discharge from these industries has destructive effects on the environment and human health; reducing sunlight penetration and gas solubility in aqueous ecosystems and mutagenic and carcinogenic effects in living organisms. The physico-chemical methods are effective in dye removal, however problems such as the overall cost, regeneration, secondary pollutants exists. As an alternative, biological treatments are a relatively inexpensive way to remove dyes from wastewater. The use of biological methods such as bioaccumulation and biosorption through bioflocculation technique is suitable for the removal of such dyes from wastewaters. In this study, bacterial strain of Bacillus subtilis has been used for the removal of crystal violet dye from an Egyptian textile effluent. More than 98 % removal is achieved through application of bioflocculation technique. Complete characterization for the textile effluent before and after treatment with bacterial strain has been done including TSS, TDS and turbidity.