Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The disposal of brine effluent from inland wastewater desalination plants is a growing global problem with adverse economic and environmental implications because of the substantial cost associated with its disposal and the potential for polluting groundwater resources. Currently, the best and most economical option for brine disposal from inland desalination plants is the use of evaporation ponds, which concentrate the liquid until getting a solid waste that can be valued or directly managed by an authorized company. The effectiveness of these ponds is therefore dependent on the evaporation rate, which has previously been improved by the addition of dyes such as methylene blue. However, the addition of chemical dyes to the evaporation ponds poses a threat to the environment, wildlife, and humans.

Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biotechnology) / The treatment of mine water at the eMalahleni Water Reclamation Plant (EWRP) results in the production of large volumes of brine. Different brine management methods have been applied to dispose the brine but the evaporation pond method is regarded as the cheaper, most effective and less laborious method for brine disposal. Brine wastewater is pumped into the pond where it evaporates resulting in the mixture of salts. The rate at which evaporation occurs is influenced by many factors such as temperature, salinity, humidity and wind. Due to high salinities in brine the EWRP is currently experiencing a challenge with low evaporation rate. Here, a comparative study was done to determine the efficiency of using a chemical and a biological approach to enhance the evaporation rate of reject brine. The chemical approach involved the addition of various concentrations of methylene blue dye (100 to 300 ppm with 50 ppm increments) to 1L volumes of brine, and measuring the evaporation rate. On the other hand, the biological approach involved the isolation of pigmented halophilic bacteria from eMalahleni brine and Cerebos salt samples. Isolated bacterial strains were characterised based on their morphology, biochemical and salt tolerance characteristics. Furthermore, the strains were identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Among the isolated halophilic bacterial strains, EP-3, an Arthobacter agilis isolated from the eMalahleni brine produced a darker pigment compared to the other strains. Therefore, EP-3 was evaluated for its effect on the evaporation of brine using a culture inoculum or the addition pigment extracted from an EP-3 culture. The addition of MB above 100 ppm overcame the effect of salt precipitation and resulted in higher evaporation (41%) rate. Addition of pigmented bacteria or bacterial extracted pigment to the brine respectively resulted in 18% and 24% increase in the evaporation rate.

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