Utilization of Azolla Microphylla for Bioremediation of Water Contaminated by Crude Oil Ariyastuti (a), Setyo Sarwanto Moersidik (a)
a) Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, Depok, 16424, Indonesia
Abstract
One of the ways to restore the environment contaminated by crude oil is bioremediation techniques by utilizing plants (phytoremediation). Plants that can be used in phytoremediation include aquatic plants such as Azolla microphylla species. This study aims to determine the density level of Azolla microphylla which is effective for recovering water contaminated with crude oil and to determine the relationship between plant and bacterial growth in the bioremediation process. This experiment was conducted using three densities of Azolla microphylla, i.e. 250, 300, and 350 g/m2. The contaminated water was simulated from 400 ml of groundwater and crude oil with two concentrations, i.e. 0.05% and 0.1% v/v. During the 15 days of the study, the optimum oil removal efficiency was obtained on day 3 with oil removal percentage for oil concentration of 0.05% at densities Azolla microphylla 250, 300, and 350 g/m2 respectively 40.7%, 47.4%, and 42.4%. Meanwhile, for the 0.1% oil concentration had an oil removal percentage at densities Azolla microphylla 250, 300, and 350 g/m2 respectively reach 50.1%, 59.6%, and 61.9%. Azolla microphylla growth is directly proportional to bacterial growth so that a larger plant density is needed for the bioremediation process of water contaminated with crude oil.
