PROCEDURE FOR TREATING AN EFFLUENT CONTAMINATED BY MTBE OR TAME USING THE MYCOBACTERIUM AUSTROAFRICA

Treatment of an aqueous effluent containing methyl tert.butyl ether(MTBE) or tert.amyl methyl ether(TAME) to reduce their concentration, in which Mycobacterium austroafricanum I-2562 is induced to grow in aerobic conditions in the presence of a growth substrate comprising the ether(as carbon source and energy) ; the ether is degraded by the bacteria to carbon dioxide and water.The bacteria are fixed on a perlite-containing support.