Role of Live Fungi in Removing Toxic Metals from Electroplating Effluent

Bioremediation is an interesting alternative for restoring the ecological equilibrium in polluted environments, based on microbial population. At present, interest is growing in the application of fungi for bioremediation of industrial effluent because fungi have a strong potential for use in non sterile open environment. Aspergillus flavus a metal tolerant fungal strain was used for treatment of electroplating effluent. The effect of pH, metal ions concentration and working volume was evaluated on the removal of nickel and lead. The result showed that maximum 99.94% nickel and 98.77% lead removal was found at optimized conditions. Pollutants removal by Consortium + A. flavus in I st reactor was 69% chemical oxygen demand, 70% sulphate and 98% turbidity and in II nd reactor 64%, 69% and 96% sulphate, chemical oxygen demand and turbidity respectively under the same experimental conditions in both cases.