Research Article
Bacteriological Assessment of Groundwater Around the M.S.W Dumping Site at Ramchak-Bairiya, Patna, Bihar, India, Using the MPN Technique
Sweta Bharti*,
Sushil Kumar Singh,
Shreyansh,
Aparna Anand,
Prem Mishra
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2026
Pages:
142-150
Received:
19 June 2026
Accepted:
13 July 2026
Published:
30 July 2026
Abstract: Patna is the capital of Bihar. Residents of Patna used groundwater for their daily needs. Nowadays water pollution becomes a global concern and major cause of disease. Many factors involved in contaminating groundwater. One of the major factors for groundwater pollution is microbes, as water acts as a medium for their proliferation and growth. Open MSW dumping sites are source of microbial contamination, as leachate generated were laterally migrated into shallow aquifer. Present study investigates the microbiological quality of groundwater samples collected from 25 different houses situated near the municipal solid waste dumping site at Ramchak-Bairiya, Patna, Bihar, for three different seasons, i.e., pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon. Water samples were analysed by multiple tube fermentation tests to find out the total coliform count, and the results were shown in the MPN index. The result of MPN shows coliform contamination in almost all samples. Samples taken during monsoon season reveal maximum coliform concentration for all 25 locations. While for summer & winter seasons, coliform concentration became lower comparatively. Presence of coliform bacteria inside the groundwater sample clearly indicate percolation of contaminated leachate into shallow aquifers. Presence of coliform make these water unfit for drinking and domestic use. This study highlights that leachate from MSW dumping site at Ramchak-Bairiya percolates to the near aquifer. This leads to severe health risk and environmental issues.
Abstract: Patna is the capital of Bihar. Residents of Patna used groundwater for their daily needs. Nowadays water pollution becomes a global concern and major cause of disease. Many factors involved in contaminating groundwater. One of the major factors for groundwater pollution is microbes, as water acts as a medium for their proliferation and growth. Open...
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Research Article
Kinetics and Microbial Population Dynamics of
Leaf-Biostimulated Crude Oil Bioremediation in Contrasting Soils
Tuboalabo Eno Nyong*,
Ukpaka Chukwuemeka Peter
Issue:
Volume 1, Issue 3, September 2026
Pages:
151-165
Received:
4 September 2026
Accepted:
16 September 2026
Published:
29 September 2026
Abstract: Crude oil contamination remains a persistent environmental burden in petroleum-producing regions, and low-cost, locally sourced plant-leaf biostimulants offer a promising route to accelerate hydrocarbon-degrading microbial activity in impacted soils. This study evaluated the bacterial and fungal population dynamics accompanying biostimulated bioremediation of crude-oil-contaminated sandy, loamy, and clay soils amended with room-dried or sun-dried Dacryodes edulis, Canarium schweinfurthii, and Persea americana leaves at 50 g or 100 g doses, monitored over 42 days across 36 treatment bioreactors and three unamended controls. First- and second-order kinetic models were fitted to total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) depletion data, and total heterotrophic bacterial (THB) and fungal (THF) counts were enumerated in parallel. First-order kinetics best described the majority of treatments (R2 generally > 0.98), with rate constants of 0.035–0.067 day⁻¹ and half-lives of 10.3–19.8 days. Soil type was the dominant determinant of TPH removal (ANOVA, F = 612.5, p < 0.001), with mean removal following sandy (93.2%) > loamy (88.6%) > clay (75.5%) soil, while biostimulant species, drying method, and dose showed no statistically significant effect. All biostimulated treatments substantially outperformed unamended controls (2.4- to 2.7-fold higher removal). THB counts peaked around Day 28 before declining, and this bacterial fold-increase correlated significantly with TPH removal (r = 0.49, p = 0.0026), whereas fungal population growth did not (r = 0.01, p = 0.96). These findings indicate that soil texture, more than biostimulant identity, governs degradation outcome, and that bacterial rather than fungal proliferation drives hydrocarbon removal under these leaf-based biostimulation regimes.
Abstract: Crude oil contamination remains a persistent environmental burden in petroleum-producing regions, and low-cost, locally sourced plant-leaf biostimulants offer a promising route to accelerate hydrocarbon-degrading microbial activity in impacted soils. This study evaluated the bacterial and fungal population dynamics accompanying biostimulated biorem...
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