Biotechnology for Zero Waste – Emerging Waste Management Techniques (Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain (editor) etc.)

Bioremediation of Toxic Dyes for Zero Waste

Venkata Krishna Bayineni

Prayoga Institute of Education Research (PIER), Department of Biology, Bangalore, Karnataka 560085, India

4.1

Introduction

Currently, water contamination is one of the major global problems, due to the

improper discharge of industrial wastewater into the environment, the high utiliza-

tion rate of chemical fertilizers in the agricultural sector, the construction of roads,

buildings, etc. There are many chemical industries that are processing dyes. Among

them, a large amount of dye utilization and wastewater discharge after treatment

are resulted by the textile industries. During the process of converting fibers to

yarns, from yarns to fabrics, dyeing and finishing, the textile industry uses a lot of

water, a lot of chemicals, auxiliary chemicals, dyes, and sizing materials. The use

of such hazardous materials has caused water contamination and environmental

pollution. The colored dye wastewater released from textile processing industries

not only reduces the aesthetic value of the water body but also enhances the toxicity

of the water, making it unsafe to drink. Discharge of colored wastewater in the

textile industry is one of the most noticeable indicators of water pollution, and it is

reported that when the concentration is higher than 1 mg/l, the color is visible [1].

Obviously, dyes containing water can interfere with the penetration of sunlight and

hinder photosynthesis. In addition, it inhibits the growth of aquatic animals and

plants by interfering with gas solubility. As the use of synthetic dyes in industrial

processes has greatly increased, and humans use them more and more, water

pollution caused by these dyes is a key issue from the perspective of human health

and serious ecological consequences. Therefore, there is an urgent need to remove

these dyes from the industrial effluents [1].

There are several methods that can be used to remove these dyes from wastewater,

including biological, physical, and chemical or a combination of these methods.

Some of them are uneconomical, while others are not 100% effective. In addi-

tion, these processes generate a large amount of sludge, which is a secondary

source of pollution that requires new treatment, and therefore leads to high costs.

Microbial-mediated destruction is an effective way to solve a large amount of

Biotechnology for Zero Waste: Emerging Waste Management Techniques, First Edition.

Edited by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and Ravi Kumar Kadeppagari.