Abstract
The effluent generated during the manufacturing of leather has a complex composition that may lead to severe environmental damage. Constructed wetland (CW) has recently become one of the most economically feasible and easily applicable tools for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of augmentation with endophytic bacteria in CWs on the remediation of tannery effluent. Southern cattail (Typha domingensis) was vegetated in vertical flow CWs and inoculated with endophytes. Bacterial augmentation enhanced the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from the wastewater and maximum reduction of 80% in chemical oxygen demand, 95% in biochemical oxygen demand in 5 d, and 95% in Cr was observed. Nutrients, lipids, ion content, sulphates, and chlorides showed similar reduction by the combined action of endophytes and southern cattail. Results reveal that CWs augmented with endophytic bacteria provided an efficient approach for clean-up of tannery wastewater.