CONTINUOUS-FLOW FERMENTATION TO PURIFY WASTE-WATER BY THE REMOVAL OF CADMIUM

Fungi have been isolated that can tolerate and absorb high levels of heavy metals, especially Cd, when grown in a continuous flow air-lift fermenter with up to 10 throughputs per day. This allows the recovery of metals or the purification of industrial effluent streams. An average of over 97% of the Cd was removed from the simulated effluent during passage through the fermenter, reducing the Cd concentration from over 6 mg L-1 to less than 0.2 mg L-1. The biomass recovered contained up to 2.9% Cd (on a dry weight basis) and can either be disposed of or returned for smelting to recover the metal. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.