Evaluation of entrapment potentiality and turbidity removal efficiency of fungi

Turbidity and suspended solids concentration promotes a number of negative effects on freshwater ecosystems. conventionally suspended solids and turbidity are removed from raw water by various chemical coagulants but most of them are costly and non-ecofriendly. whereas,the bioflocculants are environment-friendly and could be used as coagulants. extracellular polymeric substances (eps) produced by microorganisms play a definite role to reduce the turbidity of river water which can enhance the aesthetics of river water and other water uses. in this study,pellets /flocs have been observed of five filamentous fungi isolated from pusu river water. the strains rwf-01,rwf-02,rwf-03,rwf-04 and rwf-05 showed a good entrapment capability and flocculating rate of 97.56%,99.42%,99.18%,59.34% and 85.21% to kaolin suspension and 44.54%,99.27%,98.59%,28.57% & 68.43% to river water respectively at 48h of culture time. the result showed the clay particles of river water and kaolin has entrapped by the microbial growth and,as a result,they reduced the turbidity of river water. © 2015 penerbit utm press. all rights reserved.