Tannery Effluent Treatment by Yeast Species Isolates from Watermelon

Abstract

The quest for an effective alternative means for effluent treatment is a major concern of the modern-day scientist. Fungi have been attracting a growing interest for the biological treatment of industrial wastewater. In this study, <i>Saccharomycescerevisiae</i> and <i>Torulasporadelbrueckii</i> were isolated from spoiled watermelon and inoculated into different concentrations of effluent. The inoculants were incubated for 21-days to monitor the performance of the isolates by measurement of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrates, conductivity, phosphates, sulphates and turbidity. The results showed that <i>Saccharomycescerevisiae</i> had the highest percentage decrease of 98.1%, 83.0%, 60.7%, 60.5%, and 54.2% for turbidity, sulphates, BOD, phosphates and COD, respectively, of the tannery effluent. <i>Torulasporadelbrueckii</i> showed the highest percentage decrease of 92.9%, 90.6%, and 61.9% for sulphates, COD, and phosphates, respectively, while the syndicate showed the highest percentage reduction of 87.4% and 70.2% for nitrate and total dissolve solid (TDS), respectively. The least percentage decrease was displayed by syndicate organisms at 51.2%, 48.1% and 40.3% for BOD, COD and conductivity, respectively. The study revealed that <i>Saccharomycescerevisiae</i> and <i>Torulasporadelbrueckii</i> could be used in the biological treatment of tannery-effluent. Hence, it was concluded that the use of these organisms could contribute to minimizing the adverse environmental risks and health-hazards associated with the disposal of untreated tannery-effluents.