Detection and bioremediation of petroleum pollutants in groundwater of alluvial aquifer of the Sava river, Serbia

Bioremediation is cheap, efficient, green technology that provides degradation of organic compounds by microorganisms. Products of biodegradation can be less toxic compounds or CO2 and H2O, when biodegradation is complete. The aim of this research was detection and biodegradation of petroleum pollutants in the groundwater from alluvial aquifer of the Sava river in the vicinity of one of the largest district heating plants in New Belgrade (Serbia). The heating plant “New Belgrade” has been using petroleum products as fuel for decades. Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) were analyzed in 10 groundwater samples collected from boreholes at the depths from 8 to 11 m. From these samples, TPH were isolated using extraction method with n-hexane. TPH was further analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). In this study bioremediation was applied in order to degrade TPH in the groundwater of the investigated location. This research lasted for one year [1]. In the sample P-5 the initial concentration of TPH was 1.39 mg/L and it was 0.02 mg/L at the end of the bioremediation, with TPH reduction of 98.55 %. In the sample P-6, the initial concentration of TPH was 1.76 mg/L, while at the end of the bioremediation it was 0.03 mg/L, with TPH reduction of 98.30 %. In the sample P-7, the initial concentration of TPH was 1.57 mg/L, and at the end of bioremediation it was 0.03 mg/L with TPH reduction of 98.09 %. It can be concluded that this approach was very successful, with an efficiency of approximately 100 % [1, 2].