The presence of hexavalent chromium, a heavy metal, in aquatic environments must be minimized by utilizing available biological and natural resources, particularly in the form of waste. The Semeton Bakteri team, composed of students from the Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha), initiated a project as part of the Student Creativity Program – Exact Research Scheme (PKM-RE). The project involves isolating indigenous bacteria from rivers contaminated by screen printing liquid waste and using this bacteria for the bioremediation of hexavalent chromium produced by the printing industry. This process is enhanced through biostimulation with broiler feather in the form of meal, aiming to reduce waste from broiler production.
The team, led by Made Luhur Sahadeva from the Biology study program, includes members Ni Putu Ayu Oka Pratiwi from the Chemistry study program, Ni Nyoman Ayu Paramitha, and Putu Dinda Sasmitha from the Biology study program. They conducted this research over a period of 4 months, from April to July 2024.
This research took place at two locations. The first location being the Mati River in Kuta District, Badung Regency, Bali, where samples of indigenous bacteria were collected from areas polluted by screen printing waste. The second location was the Ganesha University of Education, where the vivo tests were conducted.
The program’s implementation consists of 4 stages: Sample collection and Isolation of Indigenous Bacteria: Samples were collected from water areas contaminated by hexavalent chromium, and indigenous bacteria were isolated to obtain natural bacterial consortia from these polluted waters. Tolerance Testing of Bacterial Consortia: The bacterial consortia were tested for their tolerance to hexavalent chromium by growing them in media containing heavy metal, with the goal of selecting consortia with high resistance or tolerance to chromium. Combination of Bioaugmentation and Biostimulation (in vivo): Indigenous bacterial consortia with the highest tolerance levels were inoculated into sediment samples contaminated with hexavalent chromium and stimulants in the form of broiler feather meal in varying concentrations for each treatment and were added to the samples. Process Analysis of Bioaugmentation and Biostimulation: This step involved analyzing the effectiveness of the combined bioaugmentation and biostimulation processes in reducing hexavalent chromium levels. The analysis assessed how different concentrations of broiler feather meal affected the remediation of hexavalent chromium in polluted sediment samples that had been tested in vivo.
