The Power of Microbes in Cleaning Up Phenol Pollution

The world of wastewater treatment just got a new superhero. It is a closed fixed-bed bacteria-algae biofilm reactor. This is a fancy name for a system that uses tiny living things to clean up water polluted with phenol. Phenol is a harmful chemical found in many industrial wastewaters. This new system is not just about cleaning up the mess. It is also about turning waste into something useful. The reactor showed impressive strength. It could handle heavy loads of phenol and keep working steadily. It broke down phenol completely, even when the concentration was as high as 150 mg per liter. This is a big deal because phenol is tough to get rid of. As the polluted water moved through the reactor, some interesting things happened. The number and variety of bacteria decreased. But one type of bacteria, Chlorobaculum, took the lead in breaking down the phenol. Fungi, another type of microbe, showed a different pattern. Their numbers went down, but their variety increased. Two types of fungi, Kalenjinia and Cutaneotrichosporon, worked together to reduce the toxicity of the pollutants. The reactor also had a big impact on microalgae, which are tiny plant-like organisms. High concentrations of pollutants at the start led to more microalgae. One family of algae, Scenedesmaceae, became the most dominant. This was good news because it helped break down the phenol even more. The reactor's success can be linked to the activities of different genes in the microbes. In bacteria, the genes involved in breaking down carbohydrates and amino acids were the most active. In fungi, the most active genes were found in the upstream region of the reactor. This is where the polluted water first enters. The reactor also produced some interesting byproducts. These included organic acids, lipids, and carboxylic acids. These substances showed that the reactor was effectively breaking down the phenol. The reactor's design is clever. It uses the natural abilities of microbes to clean up pollution and turn waste into resources. This is a promising solution for industries that produce phenolic wastewater. It is a step towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.