Mycofiltration of urban derived raw stormwater using Lentinus squarrosulus

Abstract

The physicochemical and microbial attributes of storm water samples prior to and after mycofiltration was determined using routine methods. The preparation of the substrate was done by supplementation of un-fermented sawdust with calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, granulated sugar and wheat offal. The mixture was allowed to undergo composting for 7 days upon which, it was inoculated with Lentinus squarrolsulus spawn and incubated at room temperature. The sample was then passed through a network of mycelia for pollutant removal. The mean TDS and EC concentrations of the raw and mycofiltered samples was 1369.8 ± 4.5 and 516.4 ± 2.9 mg/l as well as 2785.0 ± 4.2 and 1251.0 ± 5.6 µS/cm. Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr and Fe readings for the raw samples were 0.03±0.03mg/l, 0.07±0.03 mg/l, 0.01±0.01mg/l, 0.03±0.01mg/l and 1.00±0.11mg/l. For the mycofiltered samples, the Pb, Cd and Cr were reduced to nil while Cu and Fe decreased to 0.03 ± 0.03 mg/l and 0.47± 0.09 mg/l. The difference between the mean trace metal values recorded for the raw and filtered samples was insignificant (p>0.05). The results indicated that mycofilter derived from L. squarrolsulus mycelia was capable of purifying storm water sample.