Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2014) 3(10) 775-782 775 Original Research Article Rubber processing industry effluent treatment using a bacterial consortium H.P.Jai Shanker Pillai 1 and K.Girish 2* 1 Department of Microbiology, Gulbarga University, Gulbarga - 585 106, Karnataka, India 2 Postgraduate Department of Microbiology, Maharani s Science College for Women, JLB Road, Mysore 570 005, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Natural rubber (NR) processing sector is an industry which produces raw materials used for the manufacture of rubber industrial products (conveyor belts, rubber rollers, etc.), automotive products (fan belts, radiator hoses, etc.), latex products (rubber gloves, toys hygienic products, etc.) and many kinds of adhesives. The major users of natural rubber are tire and footwear industries (Anon, 2007). However, environmental damages generated from this sector could become big issues. Natural rubber processing sector consumes large volumes of water and energy and uses large amount of chemicals as well as other utilities. It also discharges massive amounts of wastes and effluents (Leong et al., 2003). Wastewater is an unavoidable by-product of rubber processing: whatever processing procedures are used for preparing products ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 10 (2014) pp. 775-782 http://www.ijcmas.com Keywords Rubber processing industry, Biological treatment, Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Chemical oxygen demand (COD) Wastewater collected from rubber processing industry was characterized for their pollution characteristics. Results of the analysis showed that the total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), total solids (TS), ammonia and phosphate were high when compared to effluent discharge standard for industrial wastewater. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 1340 and 2834 mg/l respectively, which showed that the wastewater was high in pollution potentials and need to be treated before discharged to the environment. An investigation of bacteria found in rubber processing wastes was carried out. Four bacterial species were isolated from the wastes and were identified as Arthrobacter sp., Bacillus sp., Lactobacillus sp., and Pseudomonas sp. A bacterial consortium was constituted by mixing proportionately these four bacteria and used in effluent aerobic biotreatment. After 15 days of incubation, BOD and COD reduction were 74.03% and 79.92% respectively, which is a significant reduction. Treatment of wastewater also yielded substantial reduction in the TDS (72.63%), TSS (76.1%), ammonia (76.6%) and phosphate (68.75%). From the results of the present study it could be inferred that the constituted consortium could effectively be used for the treatment of effluents from rubber processing industry and this effective effluent treatment method would minimize environmental pollution of rubber industry and make it sustainable and environmental friendly.