Recent Advancement on Bioaugmentation Strategies for Process Industry Wastewater (PIWW) Treatment

The quality of wastewater discharged from the process industries has high impact on all the biotic and abiotic components of the adjoining environment. Pollutants in the wastewater of different types of process industry include heavy metals, nitrates, sulfates, phosphates, fluorides, chlorides, oxalates, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, polynuclear hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenols, polychlorinated biphenyls, halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, polybrominated biphenyls, biphenyls, detergents, oils, greases, hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, proteins, lignin. The presence of various pollutants in process industry wastewater (PIWW) directly or indirectly affects all life-forms in the vicinity. Since these are highly toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and clastogenic, serious hazardous effects may run from aquatic organism to our food chain. Thus, PIWW treatment technologies are focused on three purposes, i.e., reduction in water usage, treatment of effluent, and recycling of water and other catalyst. In the last two decades, different types of physical-chemical treatment systems are established as secondary and tertiary stage wastewater treatment systems. However, these techniques are questionable due to the incurred cost, operational difficulties, and sludge generation. Augmentation of biological treatment seems to be a sustainable option in comparison with other physical and chemical processes. The biological treatment includes the aerobic and anaerobic digestion of PIWW. Ample amount of research has led to identify various aerobic and anaerobic bacterial strains having much higher treatment efficacy in comparison with the conventional activated sludge process. If these bacterial isolates are exploited in the form of consortium or augmented into the activated sludge, they may exhibit even better results. Such aerobic and anaerobic bacterial treatment has been found to reduce the level of pollutant up to 90%. Additionally, sequential treatment PIWW can be attempted, but such trials are scarcely tested and are limited to the level of a pilot plant. In this chapter, emphasis is largely given on the various augmentation strategies considering various possible sequential treatments of PIWW. It is anticipated that the recent advancements in the area of bioaugmentation will certainly help in developing ecofriendly solutions to PIWW treatment.