Bioprecipitation - A Promising Technique for Heavy Metal Removal and Recovery from Contaminated Wastewater Streams

Abstract

With balanced industrial and infrastructural growth and stability in many developing countries, metal reserves are fast depleting and some of the metals are predicted to be exhausted in a few decade. Metal recovery from waste (liquid) streams, for example - acid mine drainage, is one classical option to achieve sustainable resource utilization. Bioprecipitation is a novel approach to recover metals with the help of biologically produced sulfide in suitable bioreactor configurations. Using this technique, stable metal precipitates are formed, which can be subsequently recovered for further industrial use.