Experimentation and Evaluation
of Biodegradative Kinetic Parameters
of Nitrate Removal from Drinking Water
Rajakumar Sundaram, P. M. Ayyasamy, S. Umadevi, Y. C. Song,
and P. Lakshmanaperumalsamy
Abstract Nitrate (NO 3
− ) contamination in drinking water is regulated by environmental agencies around the world since it causes health problems at higher
concentrations. NO 3
− removal in drinking water has been a challenge for a long
time. Microbial denitrification is one of the promising processes for remediation
of NO 3
− from contaminated samples. In the present study, the effect of various
carbon sources, temperatures, pH and inoculum concentrations on the removal of
NO 3
− was first investigated using assimilatory NO 3
− reducing bacterial consortium
(Pseudomonas sp. KW1 and Bacillus sp. YW4) in Mineral Salts Medium (MSM)
containing 100 mg/Lof NO 3
− . Starch at 1%, temperature at 30
o Cand pH at 7 and 1%
of inoculum concentration were found to be optimum. Monod and Haldane kinetic
models were applied to evaluate the rate of nitrate removal by bacteria. Further,
Friedman test was used to determine the role of each factor on degradation process.
Second phase of experiments was studied in drinking water using a pilot scale treatment plant and the results showed that the consortium (KW1 and YW4), reduced
nitrate to a level at 92% (100–8 mg/L) and verified with statistical test. Further,
boiling, ultraviolet radiations, filtration by adsorption and chlorination methods were
evident for consecutive elimination of microorganisms from the treated water.
Keywords Nitrate · Carbon source · Denitrification · Coagulants · Pilot scale plant
R. Sundaram (B) · S. Umadevi
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil
Nadu, India
e-mail: kodairaj@gmail.com
P. M. Ayyasamy
Department of Microbiology, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India
Y. C. Song
Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112,
South Korea
P. Lakshmanaperumalsamy
Department of Environmental Science, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore 641046, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Prashanthi et al. (eds.), Bioremediation and Green Technologies, Environmental
Science and Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64122-1_13
163
of Biodegradative Kinetic Parameters
of Nitrate Removal from Drinking Water
Rajakumar Sundaram, P. M. Ayyasamy, S. Umadevi, Y. C. Song,
and P. Lakshmanaperumalsamy
Abstract Nitrate (NO 3
− ) contamination in drinking water is regulated by environmental agencies around the world since it causes health problems at higher
concentrations. NO 3
− removal in drinking water has been a challenge for a long
time. Microbial denitrification is one of the promising processes for remediation
of NO 3
− from contaminated samples. In the present study, the effect of various
carbon sources, temperatures, pH and inoculum concentrations on the removal of
NO 3
− was first investigated using assimilatory NO 3
− reducing bacterial consortium
(Pseudomonas sp. KW1 and Bacillus sp. YW4) in Mineral Salts Medium (MSM)
containing 100 mg/Lof NO 3
− . Starch at 1%, temperature at 30
o Cand pH at 7 and 1%
of inoculum concentration were found to be optimum. Monod and Haldane kinetic
models were applied to evaluate the rate of nitrate removal by bacteria. Further,
Friedman test was used to determine the role of each factor on degradation process.
Second phase of experiments was studied in drinking water using a pilot scale treatment plant and the results showed that the consortium (KW1 and YW4), reduced
nitrate to a level at 92% (100–8 mg/L) and verified with statistical test. Further,
boiling, ultraviolet radiations, filtration by adsorption and chlorination methods were
evident for consecutive elimination of microorganisms from the treated water.
Keywords Nitrate · Carbon source · Denitrification · Coagulants · Pilot scale plant
R. Sundaram (B) · S. Umadevi
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, Tamil
Nadu, India
e-mail: kodairaj@gmail.com
P. M. Ayyasamy
Department of Microbiology, Periyar University, Salem 636011, Tamil Nadu, India
Y. C. Song
Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112,
South Korea
P. Lakshmanaperumalsamy
Department of Environmental Science, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore 641046, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Prashanthi et al. (eds.), Bioremediation and Green Technologies, Environmental
Science and Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64122-1_13
163