A sudden fall in COD reduction was observed for all the strains (> 50%) when salinity level increased to 10% (Fig. 5). This indicated that even a smaller increment in salinity (8 to 10%) could result in adverse effect on treatment efficiency. From the results given in Fig. 5, it could be observed that both E.homiense and mixed consortia exhibited similar COD removal (48%) at 10% salinity concentration.