The study was carried out to identify the potential of phytoremediation within a flowing drain through Eichhornia crassipes in combination with two bacillus species to treat the inorganic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from industrial effluent at Kala Shah Kaku (KSK), Lahore, Pakistan. Results showed that the highest metals removal efficiency was found in Cr, Pb, Ni, and Cu as 72.4, 83.3, 82.35, and 63.63%, respectively. However, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies were also considerably higher (66.66 and 66.67%). The BOD, COD, sulfates, phosphate, and total dissolved solids (TDS) showed a higher reduction rate as 1442.7, 1967.3, 1148.2, 7225.4, and 911.5 g m-2 d-1, respectively. Chlorophyll a + b and carotenoid contents were decreased from 7.92 to 5.78 mg kg-1, 3.03 to 3.01 mg kg-1, respectively and total nitrogen was increased from 22 to 27 mg kg-1 in E. crassipes. Bio-concentration factor was higher for all metals and the maximum was found in Cr (<1). The reduction efficiency of ƩPAHs was found up to 60% with different rings structure. The use of Bacillus safensis strain showed the higher percentage reduction for BOD, nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates. The Study provide practical reference for bacterial assisted phytoremediation of urban drain.
Keywords: Bacillus cereus; Bacillus safensis; phytoremediation.