Biological Removal of Phosphate Using Phosphate Solubilizing Bacterial Consortium from Synthetic Wastewater: A Laboratory Scale

Abstract

Biological phosphate removal is an important process having gained worldwide attention and widely used for removing phosphorus from wastewater. The present investigation was aimed to screen the efficient phosphate solubilizing bacterial isolates and used to remove phosphate from synthetic wastewater under shaking flasks conditions. Pseudomonas sp. JPSB12, Enterobacter sp. TPSB20, Flavobacterium sp. TPSB23 and mixed bacterial consortium (Pseudomonas sp. JPSB12+Enterobacter sp. TPSB20+Flavobacterium sp. TPSB23) were used for the removal of phosphate. Among the individual strains, Enterobacter sp. TPSB20 was removed maximum phosphate (61.75%) from synthetic wastewater in presence of glucose as a carbon source. The consortium was effectively removed phosphate (74.15-82.50%) in the synthetic wastewater when compared to individual strains. The pH changes in culture medium with time and extracellular phosphatase activity (acid and alkaline) were also investigated. The efficient removal of phosphate by the consortium may be due to the synergistic activity among the individual strains and phosphatase enzyme activity. The use of bacterial consortium in the remediation of phosphate contaminated aquatic environments has been discussed.

Keywords

• phosphate removal
• synthetic wastewater
• phosphate solubilizing bacteria
• bacterial consortium