DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF MICROBIAL SYSTEM OF SELECTED COMMUNITIES IN THE RIVERS STATE TO CRUDE OIL (HYDROCARBONS) POLLUTION

O. O. Olanipekun; A. O. Ogunbayo; S. C. Nwachukwu; R. A. Bello

O. O. Olanipekun Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos
A. O. Ogunbayo Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos
S. C. Nwachukwu Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Lagos
R. A. Bello Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos

Keywords: Microbial activities, Undefined Consortium, Crude oil, Bioremediation, Soil, Respiratory Technique

Abstract

The activity of indigenous microbial system is a required tool to remediate an environment that has been contaminated by hydrocarbons. This work deals with the dynamic response to crude oil contaminants of undefined microbial systems in three selected communities of the Rivers State of Nigeria. The activities of indigenous (undefined) consortia were studied and compared using Respiratory technique. The soil samples were incubated with 2 % crude oil in mineral salt medium at 37 ^oC in three phases of two weeks in a shake flask at 150 rpm. At the end of the last phase, components of the crude oil degraded by the undefined consortia in the soils were identified with the gas chromatographic techniques. The results obtained showed that the consortia from the different soil samples exhibited different degrees of capacities to degrade the crude oil. On the whole, 50.00 to 85.70 % of hydrocarbon components of the crude oil were degraded thus making the areas potentially suitable for in-situ bioremediation. The study has shown that the obtained microbiological characteristics and activities of the soils are adequate for bioremediation technologies.