Adsorption Capacities of Modified Substrates in Bioremediation of Toxic Water Pollutants

Omotoso Toyin, Oluwasegun O Aluko

This paper unveils the potency of bioremediation as a cost effective and environmental friendly method of soil and ground water pollution remediation. A review of conventional methods was carried out in order to evaluate various success of bioremediation in its ability to alleviate toxicity in water and soil. The paper further presents the results and findings of an experimental research on the adsorption of some toxic metals (found in an industrial central sewage treatment site) onto EDTA modified bagasse, coconut fiber and groundnut shell. The trend of the sorption capacity was found to be Fe>Mg>Cu>Cr for bagasse, Fe>Cr>Cu>Mg for groundnut shell and Fe>Cu>Cr>Mg for coconut fiber. Generally, the results show that the EDTA modified bargese possesses the highest adsorption capacity among the substrates for the elements cadmium, and chromium, copper and silver.