Bacterial growth on aniline: implications for the biotreatment of industrial wastewater

The degradation of aniline by bacterial consortia was investigated under aerobic, fermentative, nitrate-reducing and sulphate-reducing conditions and a variety of salt concentrations (0.2, 4 and 7% NaCl w/v) and pH values (5 and 7). A variety of degradation conditions were studied to provide information and recommendations for large-scale biological treatment of aniline-containing wastewater. Under aerobic conditions, degradation of aniline (2 mM) was achieved under all combinations of salinity and pH tested. The rate of bacterial growth decreased with increasing salinity. The bacterial consortium of each batch culture generally maintained its ability to degrade aniline when salt concentrations and pHs were changed although often the lag-phase prior to growth was extended. Microbial populations in fixed film continuous reactors were also able to resist changes in NaCl concentration. Increasing aniline concentration (0.25–1 g l−1) under 0.2% NaCl (pH 5 and 7) conditions, resulted in aniline removal without affecting growth rates. At the lower pH, cell yield was not adversely affected by an increase in aniline concentration. However, at neutral pH, cell yield decreased with increasing aniline concentration. Cultures capable of degrading aniline under fermentative, nitrate-reducing and sulphate-reducing conditions were not obtained.