Removal of pollutants from wastewater via biological methods and shifts in microbial community profile during treatment process

Availability of decontaminated and clean water is one of the important requisites of the growing population around the globe. However, the fast-growing urbanization and expansion of industrialization along with excessive usage and consumption of chemical products for multiple purposes has increased the contamination level of available waterbodies all over the world. The presence of inorganic and organic pollutants in water bodies causes multiple health hazards. These organic and inorganic pollutants can be removed by biological methods, that is, biodegradation and biotransformation, utilizing various microorganisms (bacteria, algae, and fungi). Studies have shown that during the decontamination process of wastewater using the microbial community, changes occur in the community structure of microbes due to different types of pollutants present in wastewater and the operating parameters of the process. The present review is focused on evaluating the efficacies of various biological methods/technologies used for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. Further, research to understand the shift of microbial community profile in different type of wastewater and treatment processes has also been studied.