Treatment of the Wastewater Containing Phenol and Strontium Using Isolated Cultures from Mine Water

This paper reports on the biodegradation of an organic compound discharged together with radioactive waste using isolated cultures from a gold mine in South Africa. Phenol and strontium, a major radionuclide found in low-level liquid radioactive waste was used to simulate the organic radioactive wastewater. The cultures were grown on phenol ranging from 100-500 mg/L as the sole carbon source. The cultures were able to degrade phenol of a maximum concentration of 500 mg/L in 48 hours. The highest maximum rate per batch appeared between 36 and 50 hours in the 500 mg/L, hence there would be a need to increase the initial concentration above 500 mg/L.