IJEP 45(7): 639-645 : Vol. 45 Issue. 7 (July 2025)
Ethiraj College for Women, Department of Microbiology, Chennai – 600 008, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract
Effluent discharge from industries without treatment is one of the leading concerns for the environment, as it pollutes and has a negative impact on people’s quality of life, representing a global environmental problem. This study is aimed at exploring the bioremediation potential of microalgae Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus ecornis (Ehrenberg) Chodat immobilized on a natural carrier, banana stem matrix, in order to improve the quality of industrial effluent and eliminate harmful metabolites. Industrial effluent sample was collected from chemical industry and analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters, such as pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen, sulphate and phosphorus, pre- and post-treatment. For the industrial effluent treated using suspended Chlorella sp. culture, the treatment efficiency after 192 hr was found to be 87.5% of TSS, 94.9% of BOD, 93.2% of COD and 77.5% of total phosphorus. The treatment efficiency of immobilized Scenedesmus ecornis (Ehrenberg) Chodat after 24 hr was 28.9% of TSS, 16.99% of COD, 3.98% of sulphate, 98.7% of total phosphorus and 20.6% of total nitrogen. The treatment efficacy of both Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus ecornis (Ehrenberg) Chodat was found to be statistically significant when compared to the control. This work could be useful in the development of cost-effective and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment methods.
Keywords
Wastewater, Microalgae, Immobilization, Bioremediation
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