Responses of pea and wheat to textile wastewater reclaimed by suspended sequencing batch bioreactors

Availability of good quality water for crop irrigation is a big challenge in developing countries due to limited resources of clean water. Textile industry consumes a huge amount of water during dyeing process and consequently it releases high strength wastewater into wastewater streams. The present study was designed with the objective to use textile wastewater treated in sequencing batch bioreactor for irrigation purpose. Wastewater containing 100 mg/L reactive black-5 azo dye amended with different co-substrates was treated using mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and two previously isolated dye-degrading bacterial strains (Psychrobacter alimentarius KS23 and Staphylococcus equorum KS26). About 90% color and COD removal in case of dye-containing wastewater amended either with mineral salts + yeast extract or only yeast extract was achieved in 24 h after treatment with mixed culture (MLSS + KS23 + KS26). The treated wastewater was applied for irrigation of pea and wheat plants under controlled conditions. Untreated dye-contaminated wastewater was used as a control for comparison. A significant positive effect of treated dye wastewater amended with different co-substrates on the seed germination index, root and shoot length and biomass was observed in response to application of dye-containing wastewater treated with MLSS and dye-degrading bacterial strains compared to untreated control. Results of this study reveal that the dye-degrading microbial cultures could be used to enhance the treatment efficiency of dye-contaminated wastewater that can be utilized for irrigation of crops and biomass production.