BIODEGRADATION POTENTIALS OF BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM ELEME PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT

The biodegradation potentials of microorganisms isolated from different sampling points of Eleme Petrochemical Industrial Effluent was investigated. Physicochemical analyses revealed that process waste water had concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (156 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (400 mg/L), total dissolved solids (TDS) (25,000 mg/L), pH (11.11), nitrate (0.952 mg/L), dissolved oxygen (DO) (0 mg/L) and conductivity (7,320 ms/cm). Microbiological enumeration showed that the total heterotrophic bacteria count (THBC) from process waste water (PWW), clarified water (CW), retention pond gate (RPG) and receiving river (RR) ranged from 1.3 x 104 to 4.9 x 104 CFU/ml. Microbial counts for hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (HUB) from PWW, CW, RPG and RR ranged from 0 to 2.7 x 104 CFU/ml. Characterization of the bacteria revealed ten (10) genera: Enterobacter, Proteus, Bacillus, Salmonella, Citrobacter, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Seirratia and Escherichia coli. Efficiency of utilizing petrochemical industrial effluent under aerobic condition was demonstrated by Pseudomonas sp, Serratia sp. and Bacillus sp. Consortium of Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp, and Serratia sp, had the greatest efficiency for the utilizing petrochemical industrial effluent. Utilization of the hydrocarbons in petrochemical industrial effluent decreased reduction in percent of COD by Pseudomonas sp. (47.32), Serratia sp. (92.5) and the Consortium (65.38), with a decrease in the pH values of the cultures.