APPLICATION OF THE MODEL OF CYLINDRICAL REACTOR FOR SELF-PURIFICATION BY INDIGENOUS MICROORGANISMS Scientific paper

Abstract

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), in particular, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are in increasingly wider usage, and as such are more and more frequently part of the organic matter of recipient rivers, espe­cially in their lower courses. To indicate their significance as pollutants, as well as the significant role that the presence of autochthonous microflora plays in solving this issue, we undertook to perform this experiment. The experiment, titled "Application of the model of cylindrical reactor in self-purification by indigenous microorganisms", was conducted during a one-year period at the location of Vukovci, in the lower course of the Morača river. Assuming that the concentration of NSAIDs and PhACs in water can be reduced through self-purification, it has been proven that such processes result in a modification of phenotype in the indigenous microbiological population. Having the above­mentioned premise in mind, we constructed the experiment model, which entails kineticism of water, whereas the defined volume flow rate per unit time was 0.005 m/s, through the known distance of 432 m. Over one year of applic­ation of the model of the cylindrical reactor for enhancing self-purification cap­acity by indigenous microorganisms, auto-purification increased by 28.05%, the phenotype of the indigenous microorganisms changed by 24.62%, whereas the total concentration of particular PhACs, micropollutants, and NSAIDs dec­reased by 4.19%.