Statistical Assessment of Phenol Biodegradation by a Metal-Tolerant Binary Consortium of Indigenous Antarctic Bacteria

Since the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, the continent has been pressurized by multiple anthropogenic activities, today including research and tourism, which have led to the emergence of phenol pollution. Natural attenuation rates are very slow in this region due to the harsh environmental conditions; hence, biodegradation of phenol using native bacterial strains is recognized as a sustainable remediation approach. The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of phenol degradation by a binary consortium of Antarctic soil bacteria, Arthrobacter sp. strain AQ5-06, and Arthrobacter sp. strain AQ5-15. Phenol degradation by this co-culture was statistically optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and tolerance of exposure to different heavy metals was investigated under optimized conditions. Analysis of variance of central composite design (CCD) identified temperature as the most significant factor that affects phenol degradation by this consortium, with the optimum temperature ranging from 12.50 to 13.75 °C. This co-culture was able to degrade up to 1.7 g/L of phenol within seven days and tolerated phenol concentration as high as 1.9 g/L. Investigation of heavy metal tolerance revealed phenol biodegradation by this co-culture was completed in the presence of arsenic (As), aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) at concentrations of 1.0 ppm, but was inhibited by cadmium (Cd), silver (Ag), and mercury (Hg).

Introduction and Analysis of the Techniques for the Removal of Phenol from Water

According to extensive literature research, we introduce and summarize both physical, chemical properties, main hazards of phenol and the recent phenol water pollutions. We get the problem that it’s hardly to meet the standard and ensure the safety of water supply because of the low removal ratio in the process of water treatment when the water source is polluted by sporadic phenol pollution. After we analyze and compare the removal technology in polluted water and potable water respectively, we know the removal ratio of polymeric aluminum chloride-powdered activated carbon and permanganate potassium- activated carbon is significantly higher than activated carbon only, but the output water couldn’t reach the standard when facing high concentration phenol pollution (500μg/L). The biological technologies and membrane methods used in waste water treatment are introducing into the potable water treatment.