Eksplorasi Bakteri Pendegradasi Minyak dari Perairan Pelabuhan Tanjung Mas, Semarang

ABSTRAK: Tanjung Mas merupakan salah satu kawasan pelabuhan di Jawa Tengah yang terus mengalami peningkatan jumlah kapal setiap tahunnya. Hal ini berimbas pada semakin meningkatnya tumpahan minyak solar yang masuk ke perairan. Upaya yang bisa dilakukan untuk mengurangi jumlah tumpahan minyak solar di Pelabuhan Tanjung Mas yaitu dengan melakukan penelitian bioremediasi menggunakan bakteri indigenouse. Tujuan penelitian ini dilakukan yaitu mendapatkan isolat bakteri air laut asal Pelabuhan Tanjung Mas, Semarang yang mampu mendegradasi minyak solar dan mengetahui kemampuan masing-masing isolat untuk mendegradasi minyak solar. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan pada bulan Juli sampai Oktober 2019 dengan pengambilan sample air laut menggunakan metode purpossive sampling, metode isolasi menggunakan pour plate, metode uji minyak secara gravimetri dan pertumbuhan bakteri menggunakan Standart Plate Count (SPC). Hasil isolasi yaitu didapatkan 2 isolat unggul yaitu bakteri Alcanivorax nanhaiticus dan Halomonas meridiana. Bakteri Alcanivorax nanhaiticus mampu mendegradasi 54% minyak solar dan Halomonas meridiana mampu mendegradasi 72% minyak solar. Kedua bakteri merupakan bakteri hidrokarbonoklastik atau bakteri yang memiliki kemampuan mendegradasi minyak solar (hidrokarbon) karena mengandung enzim monooksigenase. Dari penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa di Pelabuhan Tanjung Mas terdapat bakteri yang mampu mendegradasi minyak solar yaitu Alcanivorax nanhaiticus dan Halomonas meridiana. Kedua isolat mampu mendegradasi lebih dari 50% minyak solar yang diujikan. ABSTRACT: Tanjung Mas is one of the port areas in Central Java that continues to experience an increase in the number of ships each year. This has an impact on the increasing amount of diesel fuel spills that enter the waters. Efforts that can be made to reduce the number of diesel fuel spills in the Port of Tanjung Mas is to conduct bioremediation research using indigenous bacteria. The purpose of this study was to obtain seawater bacterial isolates from the Port of Tanjung Mas, Semarang that can degrade diesel fuel and determine the ability of each isolate to degrade diesel fuel. This research was conducted in July to October 2019 by taking seawater samples using a purposive sampling method, isolation method using pour plates, gravimetric fuel test methods and bacterial growth using Standard Plate Count (SPC). The results of the isolation were obtained 2 superior isolates namely Alcanivorax nanhaiticus and Halomonas meridiana. Alcanivorax nanhaiticus can degrade 54% of diesel fuel and Halomonas meridiana can degrade 72% of diesel fuel. Both bacteria are hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria or bacteria that can degrade diesel oil (hydrocarbons) because they contain the enzyme monooxsigenase. From this study, it can be concluded that at Tanjung Mas Port there are bacteria that can degrade diesel fuel, namely Alcanivorax nanhaiticus and Halomonas meridiana. Both isolates were able to degrade more than 50% of the tested diesel fuel.

Biostabilization of sewage sludge in the Antarctic

Antarctica is no longer a pristine environment due to atmospheric pollution, fuel spills, inadequate waste management and wastewater discharges from anthropogenic activities (Harris 1998, Stark et al. 2015). Approximately 37% of the permanent stations and 69% of the summer stations lack any form of sewage treatment (Gröndahl et al. 2009). The characteristics of wastewater from stations are also of concern because they are a complex mix of contaminants containing human waste, cosmetics, viruses, dyes, detergents, medications, chemicals from laboratories and even microplastics (Bhardwaj et al. 2018). In Antarctica, treatment plants discharge treated water into the sea and then sludge is packed and sealed into drums for later shipment to Chile. Nevertheless, sewage sludge (c. 59–88% organic matter) could become a biosolid instead of being a waste if correctly stabilized. The Ecuadorian Antarctic station ‘Pedro Vicente Maldonado’ produced c. 200 kg of sewage sludge during expeditions in 2017 and 2018. Thus, the aim of the present study was to biostabilize sewage sludge using two methods (one thermal and one biological) at the Ecuadorian Antarctic station. As a result, the stabilization of sewage sludge produced a biosolid that was easier and more cost effective to transport, avoiding odour problems.

Antarctic Wildlife and Oil - Are We Ready?

The increasing rate of vessel incidents in the Southern Ocean (including an ever-increasing number of vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. The increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penetrating farther into, and staying longer in, Antarctic waters, with a focus for destinations of substantial wildlife concentrations. Based on a questionnaire comprising six questions submitted to 33 national operators in the Antarctic, there is currently little preparation for an oil spill event involving wildlife. This is a recipe for a catastrophic spill event, with the potential for high numbers of oiled wildlife in a remote part of the world where there are major logistical constraints on the provision of equipment and skilled response personnel. We chronicle shipping incidents that have led to oil spills in the Southern Ocean, the existing legislation and contingency plans currently in place by national Antarctic operators, and examine their preparedness and expertise for an oiled wildlife response. It is very clear that national, fishing and tourism operators are manifestly unprepared for an oiled wildlife event in the Southern Ocean. We identify five critical constraints to any response and provide recommendations that address these constraints.