Treatment and remediation of metal-contaminated water and groundwater in mining areas by biological sulfidogenic processes: A review

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 443; p. 130377
• Main Authors: Li, Yu, Zhao, Qingxia, Liu, Ming, Guo, Jiahua, Xia, Juntao, Wang, Jinting, Qiu, Yanying, Zou, Jiahui, He, Weiting, Jiang, Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 05.02.2023
• Subjects: Biological sulfidogenic process; Groundwater; Heavy metal removal; Metal-contaminated wastewater; Sulfate-reducing bacteria; Sulfur-reducing bacteria; Biological sulfidogenic process; Sulfate-reducing bacteria; Groundwater; Heavy metal removal; Metal-contaminated wastewater; Sulfur-reducing bacteria
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130377

Heavy metal pollution in the mining areas leads to serious environmental problems. The biological sulfidogenic process (BSP) mediated by sulfidogenic bacteria has been considered an attractive technology for the treatment and remediation of metal-contaminated water and groundwater. Notwithstanding, BSP driven by different sulfidogenic bacteria could affect the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the treatment performance in practical applications, such as the microbial intolerance of pH and metal ions, the formation of toxic byproducts, and the consumption of organic electron donors. Sulfur-reducing bacteria (S0RB)-driven BSP has been demonstrated to be a promising alternative to the commonly used sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)-driven BSP for treating metal-contaminated wastewater and groundwater, due to the cost-saving in chemical addition, the high efficiency in sulfide production and metal removal efficiency. Although the S0RB-driven BSP has been developed and applied for decades, the present review works mainly focus on the developments in SRB-driven BSP for the treatment and remediation of metal-contaminated wastewater and groundwater. Accordingly, a comprehensive review for metal-contaminated wastewater treatment and groundwater remediation should be provided with the incorporation of the SRB- and S0RB-driven BSP. To identify the bottlenecks and to improve BSP performance, this paper reviews sulfidogenic bacteria presenting in metal-contaminated water and groundwater; highlight the critical factors for the metabolism of sulfidogenic bacteria during BSP; the ecological roles of sulfidogenic bacteria and the mechanisms of metal removal by sulfidogenic bacteria; and the application of the present sulfidogenic systems and their drawbacks. Accordingly, the research knowledge gaps, current process limitations, and future prospects were provided for improving the performance of BSP in the treatment and remediation of metal-contaminated wastewater and groundwater in mining areas. [Display omitted] •SRB and S0RB are able to grow in metal-contaminated waters and groundwaters.•pH is critical for sulfide production from dissimilatory sulfate/sulfur reduction metabolism.•Interactions between metal ions and sulfidogenic bacteria responsible for metal removal.•Hybrid process of S0RB- and SRB-driven BSP systems show potency for treating metal-contaminated waters.•Outlook of future research directions for metal removal via BSP is proposed.