No abstract

A physico-chemical characterization of seawater taken from the fishing harbour of Sfax, Tunisia, revealed a contamination by organic and inorganic micropollutants. An aerobic marine halotolerant Bacillus stratosphericus strain FLU5 was isolated after enrichment on fluoranthene, a persistent and toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). GC-MS analyses showed that strain FLU5 was capable of degrading almost 45 % of fluoranthene (100 mg l(-1)), without yeast extract added, after 30 days of incubation at 30 g l(-1) NaCl and 37 °C. In addition, the isolate FLU5 showed a remarkable capacity to grow on a wide range of aliphatic, aromatic and complex hydrocarbons. This strain could also synthesize a biosurfactant which was capable of reducing the surface tension of the cell-free medium, during the growth on fluoranthene. The biodegradative abilities of PAHs are promising and can be used to perform the bioremediation strategies of seawaters and marine sediments contaminated by hydrocarbons.

A full-scale study has been conducted to assess the bioaugmentation efficiency of trickling filter process to treat petrochemical wastewater from a lubricant industry recycling waste oils. During 45 weeks, the organic loading rate (OLR) in the trickling filter was increased stepwise from 0.9 to 4 kg of chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(m3·day) at the end of the upgrading period as the flow rate (FR) reached the value of 30 m3/day. The removal, obtained in terms of percentage, for COD ranged from 60 to 84.5 and greater than 98 for total n-alkane (TNA), while those of total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphor (TP) were about 32 and 55, respectively. The analytical profile index (API) of trickling biofilm has confirmed that 5 strains are closely related to Acinobacter junii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio metschnikovi, Pseudomona slulzeri and Trichosporon spp2.