Fatty Acids and Mineral Profiles of Biodegraded Oil-rich Wastewater

Aims: Biodegradation of oil-rich wastewater evidenced with the production of fatty acids was enumerated and qualified.
Study Design: The study site is Falegan restaurant situated within the metropolis of Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State. The restaurant is located at about 20km from Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti.
Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Department of Microbiology, and Department of Chemistry, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, between September 2010 and August 2011.
Methodology: The oil-rich wastewater and palm oil were cultured using standard methods and the growth measured using gravimetric procedure. Fatty acids enumeration was done using higher performance liquid chromatography. Mineral analyses were carried out on the wastewater samples, using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, while Potassium and Sodium were analyzed using a Flame Photometer.
Results: In wastewater the percentage weight difference between the first and twelfth days indicated some substantial growth differences in Pseudomonas sp. (w) and Staphylococcus sp (x) with each having a 100% weight increase. While in palm oil, there were some appreciable increases in weight difference noticed for isolates Pseudomonas sp. (j), Staphylococcus sp. (r) and Bacillus sp. (p), and Klebsiella sp. (m) with values of 28.3%, 7.84%, 4.44% and 6.98% respectively. The weight increase of each of the microbial cells in palm oil culture was usually lesser than what was obtained in the oil-rich wastewater culture. The largest variation among the microbiological activities in the biodegradation of palm oil fatty acids was obtained on the 7th day. The value on this day was 52.1% which almost doubled the values obtained on day 4 and 24h but almost quadruplet on the 12th day. Generally, Klebsiella spp (m) appeared to be the most outstanding in its biochemical use of the minerals; whereas Staphylococcus sp. (r) appeared to utilize the minerals minimally.
Conclusion: The biodegradation of the oil-rich wastewater was discussed extensively.