Simulated Sugar Factory Wastewater Lagooning with Pseudomonas Putida

Abstract

The generation of organic wastewater such as from sugar factories is a source of water pollution particularly in developing countries like Pakistan, where sugar industry is the second largest after tanneries and a major source of environmental nuisance. Simulated sugar factor wastewater (SFW) was investigated for its degradation using aerobic bacteria such as Pseudomonas putida (PP) in terms of different parameters like pH, DO, temperature and COD. The mass inoculation of allochthonous or external PP was performed in a lagoon type rectangular tank. The synthetic version of real sugar mills wastewater (RSMW) was made via mixing the appropriate contents of components found in RSMW such as organic loading (COD), nitrogen and phosphorous. The SWF biodegradation revealed that the pH decreased by 1.9 per day, whereas DO reduction of 6 mg/l/d occurred as a result of its uptake by the bacteria. COD profile in the tank transpired that it was decreasing for the first 20 hr followed by a slight increase in it when DO was a limiting factor in the medium.