The objective of this project is to study the biodegradation of xenobiotic organic compounds in a process that could be used to reduce the concentration of these compounds in industrial and agricultural wastewaters. Contamination of water by zenobiotic and toxic organic compounds occurs when industrial or agricultural wastes have been disposed of in leaking landfills or inadvertently discharged into the environment. Biodegradation of these organic compounds in engineered treatment systems is one important method of cleaning up water which has been polluted with toxic organic compounds. In this research project, the investigators plan to work on biodegradation of two types of xenobiotic organic chemicals in Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) systems and in flask microbiological experiments, examining the effect of cell recycle and a supplemental carbon source on the rate of degradation. Results of this work are likely to be utilized in the engineering design of biological reactor processes and their incorporation in systems to reduce the pollutional effect of wastewaters from industrial processes on surface and groundwater.
