Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Bio-Flocculating Bacteria from Afelele River in Offa, Kwara State

Abstract

The growing demand for safe water in municipal and industrial settings underscores the critical need for effective water treatment methodologies. The environmental and health risks associated with synthetic flocculants commonly used in water treatment processes have been reported thus, the need for safer and more sustainable alternatives to mitigate the drawbacks of synthetic polymers. This study aims to isolate and characterize bacteria with bio-flocculating potential from the Afelele River in Offa, Kwara State. Water samples were randomly collected at different section of the river. The experimental setup involved glucose as the carbon source, CaCl2 as the cation agent, and kaolin clay to assess the bio- flocculating activity of the isolates. Morphological characteristics were determined while the molecular method confirmed three isolates with significant flocculating activity. Of the 12 isolates with flocculating activities, Acinetobacter sp., Acinetobacter pittii, and Providencia rettgeri had the highest 87.6%, 89.6%, and 81.7%, respectively. Other isolates morphologically identified as Bacillus cereus, Bacillusspp, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Corynebacterium spp and Enterococcus spp exhibited varying flocculating activities ranging from 43.4% to 78.3%. Phylogenetic analysis established the significant relatedness of the three isolates to strains deposited in GenBank. The significant flocculating activities of these isolates highlights their potential as bioflocculants for application in water and wastewater treatment.