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Monitoring of Microbiological Attributes of Soil and Groundwater Exposed to Metal Industrial Effluents
Author(s) -
Rawat Monica,
Rai Jaiprakash N.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.201200268
Subject(s) - effluent , groundwater , environmental chemistry , environmental science , pollution , environmental engineering , environmental remediation , cadmium , soil contamination , contamination , chemistry , soil water , soil science , ecology , biology , geology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
The present paper evaluates the temporal and spatial impact of heavy metal containing (Cr, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Fe) effluents of brass, electroplating and tannery industries on chemical and microbiological characteristics of affected soil and groundwater. Therefore, samples were drawn from three sites, S 1 , S 2 and S 3 , with a longitudinally distant from effluent drain of 20, 200 and 700 m, respectively. In general, the metals concentration exceeded the standard limits not only in the discharged effluents but also in the soil and groundwater. The significant reduction of microbial biomass C and N, soil respiration and microbial coefficient with increasing metal content from S 3 to S 1 was recorded, the effect being more pronounced in summer. However, the C mic /N mic ratio decreased whilst the metabolic quotient ( $q_{{\rm CO}_{{\rm 2}} } $ ) increased with increasing metal concentration in soil. The content of Zn (11.5 mg/L) and Bacillus sp. was at maximum in groundwater of brass and electroplating industry site, whereas that of tannery site contained maximum Cr (2.34 mg/L) and Enterobacter sp. The toxic metals adversely polluted the groundwater which made it to harbours Escherichia coli beyond the prescribed limit. To check the soil and groundwater pollution, eco‐friendly measures involving improved effluent treatment technology and site‐specific application of treated effluent are recommended.