Effect of Environmental Conditions on Hydrophobicity of Marine Bacteria Adapted to Textile Effluent Treatment

Summary Bioflocculation of bacteria isolated from the marine biomass acclimatized to textile wastewater has been achieved. Pseudomonas was the main genus found in the marine biomass. This bacterium showed an important hydrophobicity but slightly weaker than that of pilot plant genera adapted to the conventional sewage. This hydrophobicity provided the bacteria with hydrophobic characters, especially those of the polymeric extracellular substances (ECS) released in the sewage. Whereas some factors such as the divalent cations, calcium and magnesium had an effect on this bacterial hydrophobicity, glucose concentration did not have any impact. Furthermore, the physiological state of the cells hatched in the sewage had an impact on the hydrophobicity. Indeed, during the logarithmic growth phase, cell hydrophobicity increase enhanced floc formation, thus improving wastewater treatment.