Abstract
Typically, manganese (II) ions are incompletely removed from water as $MnO_2$ on increasing the pH of the water to 10. The water then has to be neutralized before it can be used. We propose a new and effective method for removing Mn (II) from water using a new combination of symbiotic microbes consisting of manganese-oxidizing bacteria and filamentous algae. The microbes rapidly oxidize Mn(II) to Mn (IV) at a neutral pH with no organic matter required as a nutrient and $MnO_2$is precipitated immediately. This differs from the use of heterotrophic manganese-oxidizing bacteria where organic nutrients are required. Our results suggest that this method will be useful in developing new systems for removal of manganese(II) ions from industrial and mining wastewater and drinking water. In addition, there are other possibilities such as recycling of dry batteries which are presently discarded without treatment