Abstract

TREATMENT OF PHARMACEUTICAL EFFLUENT USING PHOTOSYNTHETIC PURPLE NONSULFUR BACTERIUM RHODOPSEUDOMONAS ACIDOPHILA OUPNSB. 1

*M. Uma Devi and B Rajani

Abstract

A photosynthetic purple non-sulphur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila OU PNSB 1 isolated from waste water that has high growth and hydrogen production was used to treat pharmaceutical effluent in a 3L Bioreactor. There is a reduction of 74% of COD, 22% of BOD and 65% of Organic Matter with simultaneous hydrogen production. This may be due to degradative activity of the bacterium with a variety of enzyme systems. The pH drifted towards alkalinity due to the growth of bacterium. The data clearly demonstrates that the bacterium is effective in transforming complex waste water into useful products. The present study encourages the development of technology particularly for industrial waste treatment and simultaneous production of clean energy (hydrogen).

Keywords: photosynthetic bacteria, waste water treatment, purple non-sulfur bacteria, Pharmaceutical effluent, Hydrogen.