KRITI KUSHWAHA AND JEENA GUPTA
Abstract
Vermicomposting, use of earthworms for composting organic matter, is an environment acceptable method for natural humification. It furnishes many advantages over raw waste material being enriched in organic forms, devoid of pathogens and decreased volume than raw waste. It further possesses an additional advantage of producing organic matter enriched in humidified compounds, in shorter time interval as compared to natural composting. The presence of multiple hydrophilic groups in this humidified vermicompost material imparts it the potential of being remarkable adsorbent. This potential of vermicompost to efficiently adsorb toxic metals and organic pollutants has been harnessed to remove them from waste water. Previous reports have documented the use of vermicompost either alone or in combination with soil to remove heavy metals, industrial dyes, pesticides and other organic pollutants from aqueous as well as industrial waste water. However, due to heterogeneity of vermicompost, characterization in terms of pH, particle size, mechanical agitation and adsorbent mass is required before using it for waste water decontamination. Furthermore, the reversible binding of pollutants to vermicompost, permits the recovery of the pollutants for sustainable process development. In addition, the sludge from wastewater can also be used as a source of organic matter for the manufacture of vermicompost. The present article aims to review the published literature analyzing the various applications of vermicomposting in waste water management.