The Role of Bacteria in the Industrial Wastewater Treatment Process In general, an area that is largely misunderstood in industrial wastewater treatment is the role played by bacteria, both indigenous and applied via bioaugmentation. With few exceptions, most industrial wastewater treatment of organic compounds  is intended to take advantage of the natural processes of wastewater treatment bacteria. Bacteria may be aerobic, anaerobic or facultative anaerobes. Aerobic bacteria require oxygen to perform their metabolic functions and reproduce. Anaerobes cannot live and reproduce in the presence of oxygen. Facultative bacteria have the ability to live either in the presence or absence of oxygen. For the purposes of our discussion, we’ll talk about aerobic bacteria and discouraging or controlling the anaerobes. In the typical industrial wastewater treatment facility, air is added to improve the metabolism and functioning of the aerobic bacteria. This addition of air is also done to enhance the aerobes at the expense of the anaerobes. A number of factors are controlled at an industrial wastewater treatment plant. All of them with the idea of improving the environmental conditions for the native bacteria. Conditions that are sometimes controlled are: Settling pH Temperature Agitation Aeration Introduction to Bacteria Bacteria may be classified in a number of ways like size, shape, genus,...

Why Aeration Alone Won’t Make My Lagoon Odor Go Way? Here’s the situation. You have just purchased, or recommended, the company purchase, an expensive aeration system to take care of your lagoon odor problems. After all, the salesman said it would work. He explained that aerobic bacteria don’t create those nasty H2S odors, anaerobic bacteria do. So by simply adding aeration, you’ll change the environment in the lagoon. And Presto – Rotten Egg Odor Gone. No more neighbors complaining about lagoon odor. So you spend the money, install the aeration system and turn it on. Unfortunately, the odor problem doesn’t go away. IT GETS WORSE! An Overwhelming stench of hydrogen sulfide fills the air and your nostrils. The installer says not to worry, it will get better over time. So what just happened? Why didn’t the lagoon odor go away with aeration? First, we’ll need to talk about the microenvironmental situation in  the lagoon. In a typical wastewater lagoon, the wastewater stratifies. In other words, some of the water floats and some sinks. Because of this, only the top layer of the wastewater lagoon receives oxygen. As a consequence, obligate anaerobes ( bacteria that cannot survive in the presence of oxygen) proliferate in the lagoon. Obligate anaerobes (bacteria that...

Using Fizzytabs to Reduce Lift Station Odors Lift station odors are one of the most common complaints and one of the most common lift station problems. The lift station tends to accumulate fats, oils and grease in  the lift station and on the sides of the lift station. Now, Custom Biologicals has come up with a cost effective, environmentally safe, solution to the lift station odors problem – Shock Treatment Fizzytabs. Shock treatment fizzytabs are effective in treating lift station odors, particularly when the odors are cause by grease on the sides of the sewage lift station. Shock treatment fizzytabs are a unique, effervescent tablet that contain billions of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria have been specifically selected because of their enhanced ability to metabolize the fats, oils, and grease (FOG)  that accumulate in sewage lift stations. Most lift station odors are caused by the decay of organic materials, specifically FOGs. This decay is the result of incomplete digestion of the organic material by the indigenous bacteria, both aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria. In particular, these indigenous bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell). The bacteria in Shock Treatment Bacteria do not produce hydrogen sulfide. In fact, they digest the fats, oils, grease, and other organic material that cause lift...