An attempt to use selected strains of bacteria adapted to high concentrations of petroleum oil to increase the effective removal of petroleum products in excess activated sludge in laboratory conditions.

Forty two strains of bacteria were isolated from excess activated sludge from petroleum wastewater treatment plant. The strains were identified and classified to the following groups: Enterobacteriaceae (7 strains), Anitratum (3 strains), Pseudomonas (13 strains), Micrococcus (12 strains), Comamonas (2 strains), Xanthomonas (2 strains), Achromobacter (1 strain) and Vibrio-Aeromonas (1 strain). One of the isolates was found to be a yeast strain. Following preliminary selection ten strains, showing the best growth in medium with oil fraction as sole carbon source, were chosen for further studies. The selected strains belong to Pseudomonas (6 strains), Xanthomonas (2 strains), Micrococcus (1 strain) and Saccharomyces (1 strain). The strains were adapted to high oil concentration (500-2000 mg/L) and an attempt to use them to intensify removal of petroleum products from excess activated sludge was made. The sludge was inoculated with a mixture of the isolated strains. The experiment was carried out three times, each time with a fresh sample of the excess sludge. The obtained results show that the inoculation of activated sludge with the strains active against oil reduced the petroleum products content by 20% in 14 days. The greatest reduction of oil was observed in sludge with the lowest dry weight, that is with the greatest degree of hydration. The dry weight of the excess sludge did not significantly decrease during the course of the experiment, after having been inoculated with the mixture of strains.