Context
What is bioremediation?
Bio means something related to life and remediation means the act of preventing damage.
So bioremediation refers to the process of removal of waste through the use of bacteria and fungi. It degrades the contaminants to non-toxic or less toxic forms.
Types of bioremediation
Its types include
Microbial bioremediation uses microbes to degrade contaminants.
Phytoremediation uses plants to degrade contaminants.
Mycoremediation uses the digestive enzymes of fungi to break down the contaminants.
Where do these microbes come from?
Microbes being abundantly present in the environment are either naturally present at the site or are added to it.
Ex-situ methods
Here the soil is treated elsewhere i.e. away from the area where the soil had been found.
It involves processes like
Land farming- the soil is enriched with contaminated soil at another place and is periodically tilled to facilitate easy decomposition.
Composting- it is the method of recycling soil rich in organic matter into valuable fertilizer that aims to enrich the soil.
Bioreactors- it refers to the process of altering contaminated soil through an engineered containment system.
Biopiles- it is the combination of land farming and composting.
In situ methods
Here the soil of the area is treated there itself.
It involves processes like
Bioaugmentation- bacteria and fungi are imported from another place.
Bioventing- it facilitates the growth of microbes by introducing oxygen.
Biosparging- it involves the facilitation of oxygen to degrade contaminants by allowing the growth of microbes under groundwater.
How is bioremediation measured?
It can be checked by checking the redox potential, pH, temperature, concentration of breakdown of products, etc.
Advantages of bioremediation
It includes
• Its cost-effectiveness.
• Environmental safety.
• Abolition of a wide variety of biodegradable materials.
• Recycling of soil especially one fit for or promoting cultivation.
Disadvantages of bioremediation
It includes
• It facilitates the destruction of only biodegradable contaminants other contaminants like Pb and Cd have no effect.
• It is time-consuming.
How are microbes grown?
Chemical requirements- There should be enough presence of water, mineral elements, oxygen( maybe no oxygen, less oxygen, or plenty oxygen requiring microbes), carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and trace elements like Fe, Cu, and Zn.
Physical requirements-temperature( maybe psychrophilic, mesophilic or thermophilic ), optimum pH ( for many it ranges from 6.5 to 7.5), and osmotic pressure.
Role of microbes in Agriculture
They decompose organic material in the soil and make it reachable to the plants.
They decompose old material.
Some bacteria like rhizobium provide essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil.
Many fungi offer resistance and tolerance to the plant.
Humus formation.
Inhibits growth of harmful microbes.
Biomass like biochar enhances soil fertility, water holding capacity, and hence productivity.
DIY at home
Take a plastic bottle and cut its curved part.
Dig up the mud rich in water and also add some water to a container.
To ensure carbon availability cut newspaper into tiny rectangles.
Mix the water and mud in milkshake consistency.
Take one-fourth of the quantity of mixture and add a handful of newspaper cuttings and yolk to it.
Fill in the bottle leaving an inch of space empty from the top.
Cover it using a plastic sheet and rubber band and place it under the Sun.
Keep it for 8 to 10 weeks and notice the changes in color, etc.
The microbes are now ready depending on the layers like uppermost layers contains aerobic bacteria due to maximum presence of oxygen there likewise maximum sulfur is at the bottom and so on.
You can very well take reference of https://youtu.be/1o4y8tCaw0A to prepare a perfect compost out of waste.
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