Removal of colour and detoxification of pulp and paper mill effluent by microorganisms in two step bioreactor

944-948Eight fungal isolates and a bacterial community comprising four strains were isolated from pulp and paper mill effluent. Decolourization and phenol reduction of pulp and paper mill effluent was determined by fungi and bacterial isolates. Among the fungi, Paecilomyces sp., exhibited significant reduction in phenol (40 per cent), lignin (66 per cent), COD (75 per cent) and colour (81 per cent) in 100 L sequential bioreactor supplemented with 1 per cent carbon and 0.2 per cent nitrogen source at 6 h retention time. However the treated effluent of fungus subsequently treated by bacterial strain, Microbrevis luteum, showed reduction in phenol (77 per cent), colour (84 per cent), COD (83 per cent) and lignin (72 per cent) on day one. Metabolites extracted from pulp and paper mill effluent were analyzed by HPLC which indicated the presence of at least three major contaminants, in which one of them, at RT 6.5, was utilized by fungus and bacteria