Use of Marine Waste Extract as a Nitrogen Source for Biological Sulfate Reduction: Development of a Suitable Alternative

• Published in: Mine water and the environment Vol. 33; no. 4; pp. 362 - 371
• Main Authors: Dev, Subhabrata, Bhattacharya, Jayanta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acid mine drainage; Ammonium chloride; Bacteria; Bioremediation; Calcium; Carbon-nitrogen ratio; Cobalt; Copper; Culture media; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecotoxicology; Geology; Growth media; Hydrogeology; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Iron; Magnesium; Manganese; Marine pollution; Metals; Micronutrients; Microorganisms; Mine drainage; Mineral Resources; Nickel; Nitrogen; Nitrogen sources; Organic wastes; Sulfate reduction; Sulfate-reducing bacteria; Sulfates; Sulphate reduction; Technical Article; Waste materials; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Water pollution; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Zinc; Germany; India; Sulfide; Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB); MSRB; Growth media; SRB population
• ISSN: 1025-9112; 1616-1068
• DOI: 10.1007/s10230-014-0283-7

Marine wastes extract (MWE), prepared from marine organic wastes, was used to develop an alternative nitrogen source for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in environments like acid mine drainage that are acidic in nature and contain high levels of sulfate and dissolved metals. The MWE contains 13.95 g L −1 of nitrogen, and other micronutrients like K, Na, P, S, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn, Co, Cu and Ni, and has a C/N ratio of 0.107. A modified SRB medium (MSRB) was developed by replacing the commercial nitrogen source of standard SRB growth medium with MWE. MSRB was compared with modified Postgate B, Postgate B, and Widdel and Pfennig media, which contained bactopeptone and NH 4 Cl, as nitrogen sources. Results showed that the growth media could support a total microbial population of 2.8 × 10 12 –6.2 × 10 12 cells mL −1 with 96, 80, 92.5, and 65 % SRB in MSRB, Postgate B, modified Postgate B, and Widdel and Pfennig media, respectively. The sulfate reduction efficiency was 97, 87, 72, and 68 % at reduction rates of 12.41, 11.10, 4.35, and 8.8 mg L −1  h −1 , respectively, for the same media. We conclude that MWE could be a cost-effective substitute for commercially available nitrogen sources for SRB for large-scale treatment of sulfate-rich wastewater.