15.2.5 Membrane Filtration
Membrane filtration technology includes reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis.
Reverse osmosis is greatly contributed towards the removal of salts and total
dissolved solids from wastewater. Electrodialysis is efficient in removing the
dissolved salts by the application of an electrical potential present across the
water, which leads to shifting of positive and negative ions onto their corresponding
electrodes through ion-permeable membranes (Shah 2014).
15.2.6 Electrochemical Method
This method prevents the formation of unwanted side products economically, but if
suspended or colloidal solids are present in high concentration in the wastewater,
they decelerate the electrochemical process. That is why such materials required to
be removed efficiently before the process of electrochemical oxidation (Shah 2014).
However, physical as well as chemical approaches are generally utilized for
eliminating organic compounds from the polluted sites, but these approaches have
narrow efficiency as compared to removal by microorganisms (Haritash and Kaushik
2009; Das and Chandran 2011). These methods are quite ineffective when
contaminants are present in low concentrations. Moreover, these techniques require
high energy and are quite expensive (Fan and Krishnamurthy 1995). Compared with
these approaches, bioremediation is emerging as an alternative strategy for the cleanup of polluted sites and water bodies through where remediation by other conventional technologies is not effective.
Unlike a brute force approach, bioremediation can help make a very specific change to the
system so that it heals. Frank Loeffler, PhD
The term bioremediation includes a wide variety of processes to control pollutants
and their associated problems (Kandelbauer and Guebitz 2005). “Bio-remediate”
means to utilize living organisms to remediate an environmental problem
(Sasikumar and Papinazath 2003). Thus, the process that utilizes microbes or the
biocatalysts produced by these to restore the surroundings modified by contaminants
in the native state is known as “bioremediation” (Vidali and Moffat 2005; Salam and
Das 2012; Prasad 2017, 2018). In broad terms, it is the scientific approach for
removing contaminants from the environmental surroundings and maintaining the
ecological balance by prevention of pollution in the future (Sasikumar and
Papinazath 2003). The microbe-mediated remediation alters the harmful chemicals
to less/non-toxic forms with less input of time, energy and chemicals (Haritash and
Kaushik 2009). Furthermore, the microbe-based approaches are far more superior
and efficient for the removal of various organic and inorganic contaminants from the
polluted sites as compared to traditional approaches (Chowdhary et al. 2018;
Thakare et al. 2021). Nanotechnology has also played a great role in remediation
carried out by microbes. Increased bioavailability is the major challenge in
15 The Role of Microorganisms in Remediation of Environmental Contaminants
425
Membrane filtration technology includes reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis.
Reverse osmosis is greatly contributed towards the removal of salts and total
dissolved solids from wastewater. Electrodialysis is efficient in removing the
dissolved salts by the application of an electrical potential present across the
water, which leads to shifting of positive and negative ions onto their corresponding
electrodes through ion-permeable membranes (Shah 2014).
15.2.6 Electrochemical Method
This method prevents the formation of unwanted side products economically, but if
suspended or colloidal solids are present in high concentration in the wastewater,
they decelerate the electrochemical process. That is why such materials required to
be removed efficiently before the process of electrochemical oxidation (Shah 2014).
However, physical as well as chemical approaches are generally utilized for
eliminating organic compounds from the polluted sites, but these approaches have
narrow efficiency as compared to removal by microorganisms (Haritash and Kaushik
2009; Das and Chandran 2011). These methods are quite ineffective when
contaminants are present in low concentrations. Moreover, these techniques require
high energy and are quite expensive (Fan and Krishnamurthy 1995). Compared with
these approaches, bioremediation is emerging as an alternative strategy for the cleanup of polluted sites and water bodies through where remediation by other conventional technologies is not effective.
Unlike a brute force approach, bioremediation can help make a very specific change to the
system so that it heals. Frank Loeffler, PhD
The term bioremediation includes a wide variety of processes to control pollutants
and their associated problems (Kandelbauer and Guebitz 2005). “Bio-remediate”
means to utilize living organisms to remediate an environmental problem
(Sasikumar and Papinazath 2003). Thus, the process that utilizes microbes or the
biocatalysts produced by these to restore the surroundings modified by contaminants
in the native state is known as “bioremediation” (Vidali and Moffat 2005; Salam and
Das 2012; Prasad 2017, 2018). In broad terms, it is the scientific approach for
removing contaminants from the environmental surroundings and maintaining the
ecological balance by prevention of pollution in the future (Sasikumar and
Papinazath 2003). The microbe-mediated remediation alters the harmful chemicals
to less/non-toxic forms with less input of time, energy and chemicals (Haritash and
Kaushik 2009). Furthermore, the microbe-based approaches are far more superior
and efficient for the removal of various organic and inorganic contaminants from the
polluted sites as compared to traditional approaches (Chowdhary et al. 2018;
Thakare et al. 2021). Nanotechnology has also played a great role in remediation
carried out by microbes. Increased bioavailability is the major challenge in
15 The Role of Microorganisms in Remediation of Environmental Contaminants
425