Comparative Study of Bacterial Degradation Efficiency in Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent

Rapid industrialization and increase in population are the main factor for environmental pollution. Pulp and paper mill are the major source of pollution generating industries. The wastewater generated by these industries contains high COD, BOD, color, organic substances and toxic chemicals. Normally we treat the pulp and paper mill effluent by activated sludge, lagooning, chemical precipitation and anaerobic treatment. In this study the effluent was treated by microorganism. We identify the predominant bacteria present in pulp and paper mill effluent and to evaluate the degradation efficiency of individual bacterial species and their combination. Two bacterial were isolated from the pulp and paper mill effluent. Bacillus Subtilis and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and their combination to reduce the maximum level of COD and BOD within retention time of 24 h in batch culture. Bacillus Subtilis show 60% BOD5 reduction and 89% COD reduction than Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and their combination where the sample was collected from the inlet of UASB.