Treatment of hypersaline industrial wastewater by a microbial consortium in a sequencing batch reactor.

ABSTRACT

Hypersaline effluents are produced by various industrial activities. Such wastewater, rich in both organic matter and salt (> 35 g l(-1)), is difficult to treat by conventional wastewater treatment processes. It is necessary to use halophilic bacteria. In this study, a bench-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was inoculated with halophilic sediments in order to treat an agri-food effluent containing 120 g salt l(-1). The micro-organisms were able to treat carbon and nitrogen, provided the pH in the reactor was neutralised with phosphoric acid. Soluble COD and Soluble TKN removal attained 83% and 72% respectively. 16S rDNA identification of the halophilic microbial community showed high diversity.