Effective microorganisms (EM) is a commercial biofertilizer that contains a mixture of co-existing beneficial microorganisms collected from natural environments. Predominantly it consists of species of photosynthetic and lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and actinomycetes. The present study was undertaken to determine the efficiency of Effective Microorganisms (EM). EM was obtained from the office of ‘Ecopro’ Auroville, Auroshilpam, Tamilnadu, India. The waste water was collected from the women’s hostel of STET women’s College, Sudarakkottai, Mannargudi, Sundarakkottai. The parameters that indicate the waste water treatment process such as odour, pH, DO, BOD, COD, TDS, TS, TSS, Nitrate and Phosphate were determined before and after the treatment of wastewater, to observe the efficiency of selected process. Soil samples were collected from Thiruthuraipoondi, Thiruvarur District, Tamilnadu, India which consists of Nedumbalam (Ndb) soil series, one of the soil series of Thiruvarur District. The experimental set up was designed randomly having EM alone (T1), Treated waste water alone (T2), EM plus Treated waste water (T3) and control (C). All the parameters showed an elevated level in the raw sewage but after treatment there is a steady reduction after 5, 10, 15 and 20 days of incubation. No reduction was observed in the level of DO. All the parameters were reduced to tolerable environmental standard. EM treated waste water was utilized for the cultivation of Vigna radiata. Among the treatments studied, T3 showed the highest results when compared to other treatments proving the efficiency of EM in recycling of waste water. Key words: Vigna radiata, Effective microorganisms (EM), Secondary crop, Treatments, Sewage, Incubation.
