Enhancing the aquatic conditions for the fresh water bivalves of River Nile, Egypt by functionalized carbon nanotube filters

Abstract

Freshwater bivalves play a vital role in aquatic ecosystems. The pollution of water supplies with a wide variety of contaminants and bacterial diseases affect bivalve's differently according to their life stage. In the current study functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (F-MWCNT) filters were employed to enhance the aquatic conditions for the freshwater bivalve, Mutela singularis (M. singularis). The water samples, contaminated with the heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and bivalves were collected from Abu Hummus, River Nile, Egypt. The biochemical composition of M. singularis before and after using F-MWCNT filters was investigated. A number of Vibrio and Staphylococcus species was considered as important pathogens that were eliminated by F-MWNTs. Our findings revealed enhanced removal at high pH for the metals Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn, however the exclusion at low pH for Cd, and Cr. F-MWCNTs-based filters showed 99.8 % removal efficiency of copper for 5 mu g L-1 concentration at pH = 10. M. singularis samples in the purified conditions showed high quality of structure followed by a significant increase in the amount of carbohydrate, lipid and protein. The filtration mechanisms as a function of the pH value were discussed. Our study makes a significant contribution not only to the water treatment but also for the potential feeding fields.