FAQ’s about Bioaugmentation of Wastewater Frequently asked questions about the bioaugmentation of wastewater. Q. What is bioaugmentation? A. Bioaugmentation is simply the addition of specifically selected microorganisms (mainly bacteria) to wastewater. When properly implemented bioaugmentation of wastewater will improve the performance of the plant. Q. I’ve heard about using “bugs” and bioremediation but isn’t that just snake oil? A. In the past, there were a lot of snake oil salesman peddling magic bacteria that could do wonderful things at treatment plant. Bioaugmentation companies had a reputation worse than that of a sleezy lawyer. The myth continue because treatment plant operators normally have a background in engineering, not biology. The wastewater engineers found very little math to evaluate wastewater treatment bacteria. So instead of bioaugmentation, most industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants used polymers and chemicals to treat their wastewater problems. Q. So what can bacteria and bioaugmentation really do? A. First, its important to remember that bacteria are alive. They have certain nutrient requirement that they need to live, grow, and reproduce. Here’s a quick list of the most important parameters: Dissolved Oxygen – Greater than .5mg/L Temperature – 50-95 degrees F. pH 6-9 Ammonia 1-3 mg/L Phosphate .5-2 mg/L Yes, a wastewater treatment plant can operate out side...

The Role of Bacteria in the Industrial Wastewater Treatment Process Part 2 Here’s the next part of our series on bacteria in the industrial wastewater treatment process. The typical growth rate curve of a bacterial culture, known as the bacterial growth rate curve, is a result of the four following phases of bacterial growth: The Bacterial Growth Cycle Lag Phase (Sometimes called initial phase). When bacteria are first introduced into an environment, little growth will take place until they adapt to their new environment. In fact, it generally takes several generation times before the bacterial numbers begin to significantly increase. In practice, the lag phase typically lasts three hours or longer.  Log Phase (Logarithmic Phase). Once full growth and cell reproduction is underway, the bacterial growth curve develops the log phase. This is the phase where the bacteria are rapidly dividing. This phase is limited by the food source and waste buildup. Stationary Phase. This phase occurs when some bacteria are growing and reproducing while others are dying. The actual number of living, viable organisms will remain fairly constant. Death Phase (Sometimes called log death phase). After a period of time, the environment becomes loaded with bacterial waste products, food supply is depleted, and the entire system begins to...

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Custom GT Tabs Product Data Sheet Custom GT Tabs product data sheet. Custom GT tabs are a grease trap bacteria product. GT Tabs contain grease digesting bacteria. For use in restaurant and food service facilities grease traps and drain lines. Custom GT Tabs are manufactured and distributed by Custom Biologicals. Distributor inquires, both domestic and international are welcome. Here’s a link to the PDF File for the Custom GT Tabs Custom GT Tabs data sheet...

The Importance of Wastewater Treatment Bacteria at a Sewage Treatment Plant – Part 1 It is important to remember, and often overlooked, that the real work at the sewage treatment plant is done by the wastewater treatment bacteria and other microorganisms. Bacteria are single celled organisms that multiply by binary fission; that is one bacteria cell divides into two and two into four, etc. With an adequate food supply, bacteria are capable of reproducing every 20 minutes. To illustrate to yourself how fast this cell reproduction can be consider that once every 20 minutes means three cell divisions per hour. So get a calculator and hit 2 times 2, times 2, times 2, etc. After a mere seven hours, that initial wastewater bacteria has the potential to multiple into over one million bacterial cells. This amazing growth at a wastewater treatment plant is generally fueled by two things; adequate food supply and adequate oxygen supply. As a quick footnote, I’m not suggesting that all wastewater bacteria require oxygen but generally the aerobes grow at a much faster rate. Additionally, other factors such as temperature and pH will effect the growth rate of wastewater bacteria. For the purposes of this post, we’ll assume that the sewage plant is operating under...