Impact of microbial and chemical pollution in Cuban freshwater ecosystems: strategies for environmental recovery

Abstract

Contamination of water resources requires of systematic environmental actions, based on integral researches which allow proposing biological process as ecological and economical alternatives in order to decrease its negative impact and to guarantee the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. The objetives of this paper were to determine the microbial and chemical water pollution in Almendares river, and to evaluate the microbial capacity for decrease or eliminate chemical contaminants present on wastewaters, natural ecosystems and industrial wastes. The microbiological and chemical pollution of the Almendares basin exceeded maximum permissible values for recreational waters according to Cuban standards, respect to total and faecal coliforms, to the presence of clinical significance multiresistant microorganisms against antimicrobial agents, and to nitrates, ammonium, phosphates and heavy metals concentrations. It was demonstrated the potential of monocultures and microbial consortiums for the elimination of heavy metals and the capacity of White Rot Fungi to degrade industrial textil colorants. The results indicate the contamination degree in freshwater systems in Cuba, a threat for biodiversity and a risk for human health. Therefore, these results permit to dispose of a microbial collection which represents potential candidates for biotechnological applications, which contribute to the protection of the environment and the preservation of waters as a valuable natural resource.

Keywords

• Freshwaters ecosystems
• microorganisms
• heavy metals
• xenobiotic compounds