Strengthening Water Retention Capacity of Marine Soft Clay Using Bio-cement

Supriya Hait¹, Gauri Chemburkar¹, Divya Murlidhar¹, Ulrica Almeida¹, Ruth Fernandez¹, Vivien Amonkar¹ and Pampi Chakraborty^1,

¹Department of Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College-Autonomous, Mumbai-400001, Maharashtra, India

Cite this paper:
Supriya Hait, Gauri Chemburkar, Divya Murlidhar, Ulrica Almeida, Ruth Fernandez, Vivien Amonkar and Pampi Chakraborty. Strengthening Water Retention Capacity of Marine Soft Clay Using Bio-cement. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2018; 6(3):93-98. doi: 10.12691/aees-6-3-4

Abstract

‘Bio-cement’ is biologically produced salt largely calcium carbonate along with the cell mass of microorganisms. It is mainly generated by urease producing organisms. The present study focuses on the feasibility of using bio-cement to strengthen the marine soft clay in order to increase its water retention capacity. Eight urease producing organisms were initially isolated from sewage and four of them were selected based on their high urea (10%) tolerance. Growth parameters (pH and temperature) of the selected strains were also determined which ideally correlates with the bio-cement production. Further, one strain was selected for bio-cement production based on its maximum urease production studied on Christensen’s Urea plate by the well diffusion method. The selected strain was identified to be Klebsiella pneumoniae using 16S rDNA sequencing and biochemical tests which produced 0.46 g of bio-cement per liter of seawater after seven days of incubation at room temperature. The dried bio-cement was mixed with marine soft clay in a 1:1 ratio. The water retention capacity was checked intermittently for 72 hours and compared with untreated marine soft clay. It was evident from the results that water retention capacity of marine soft clay was strengthened using bio-cement. Thus, this combination can be utilized for construction of aquaculture ponds in sand, agriculture in marine soil and conservation of concrete structures, amongst several other ecofriendly applications.

Keywords:
bio-cement Urease Klebsiella pneumoniae water retention capacity

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Figures

References:

[1]	D. Ariyanti. Feasibility of Using Microalgae for Biocement Production through Biocementation. J. Bioprocess. Biotech. 2012; 02(01).
[2]	M. Garcia-Vallès, M. Vendrell-Saz, W. E. Krumbein, C. Urzì. Coloured mineral coatings on monument surfaces as a result of biomineralization: the case of the Tarragona cathedral (Catalonia). Appl. Geochem. 1997; 12(3): 255-266.
[3]	N. K. Dhami, M. S. Reddy, A. Mukherjee. Biomineralization of calcium carbonates and their engineered applications: a review. Front. Microbiol. 2013; 4.
[4]	Mohammed T. Alhour. Isolation, Characterization and Application of Calcite Producing Bacteria from Urea Rich Soils. 2013; Master Degree Thesis. Islamic University Gaza.
[5]	L. Cheng, R. Cord-Ruwisch. In situ soil cementation with ureolytic bacteria by surface percolation. Ecol. Eng 2012; 42: 64-72.
[6]	S. Suzuki, A. D. Noble, S. Ruaysoongnern, N. Chinabut. Improvement in Water-Holding Capacity and Structural Stability of a Sandy Soil in Northeast Thailand. Arid Land Res. Manag. 2007; 21(1): 37-49.
[7]	V. Achal, X. Pan, N. Özyurt. Improved strength and durability of fly ash-amended concrete by microbial calcite precipitation. Ecol. Eng. 2011; 37(4): 554-559.
[8]	N. Chahal, R. Siddique, A. Rajor. Influence of bacteria on the compressive strength, water absorption and rapid chloride permeability of fly ash concrete. Constr. Build. Mater. 2012; 28(1): 351-356.
[9]	J. A. Frank, C. I. Reich, S. Sharma, J. S. Weisbaum, B. A. Wilson, G. J. Olsen. Critical Evaluation of Two Primers Commonly Used for Amplification of Bacterial 16S rRNA Genes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2008; 74(8): 2461-2470.
[10]	A. D. Varalakshmi. Isolation and characterization of urease utilizing bacteria to produce biocement. IOSR J. Environ. Sci.Toxicol. Food Technol. 2014; 8: 52-57.
[11]	A. K. Abass Akhavan Sipahy, Fariba Niari Khams. An investigation of biocement production from Hard water. Middle East Journal of scientific Research. 2011; 7(6): 964-971.
[12]	N. Yoshida, E. Higashimura, Y. Saeki. Catalytic Biomineralization of Fluorescent Calcite by the Thermophilic Bacterium Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2010; 76(21): 7322-7327.
[13]	Y. Fujita, F. Grant Ferris, R. Daniel. Calcium Carbonate Precipitation by Ureolytic Subsurface Bacteria. Geomicrobiol. J. 2000; 17(4): 305-318.
[14]	W. Li, W.-S. Chen, P.-P. Zhou, S.-L. Zhu, L.-J. Yu. Influence of initial calcium ion concentration on the precipitation and crystal morphology of calcium carbonate induced by bacterial carbonic anhydrase. Chem. Eng. J. 2013; 218: 65-72.
[15]	J. Tay, K. Show. Innovative Civil Engineering Material from Sewage Sludge: Biocement and Its Use as Blended Cement Material. J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 1994; 6(1): 23-33.