|
Bioremediation can be defined as any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the environment that has been altered by contaminants to its original condition. Bioremediation may be employed to degrade specific soil contaminants from the complex chemical mixture of crude oil to its many daughter products such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, BTEX or complex aromatics. In nature, if there is an organic molecule available, there is an organism in the environment trying to capture the energy stored in the molecular bonds. This is what makes bioremediation a viable cleanup strategy.
It is well understood that microorganisms can play an integral part in remediation of contaminated sites. As a stand alone clean-up tool or in concert with other technologies, bioremediation can effectively and economically help meet your target cleanup objectives for in-situ or ex-situ environments. A complete understanding of the indigenous populations of microorganisms present on site is necessary before planning a successful bioremediation effort. Routine monitoring will help keep the target objectives on track. Biobelt Laboratories can assist you in determining the potential efficacy of indigenous bacteria and help you determine when and how to augment the site in order to facilitate the bioremediation activity.
Step 1. Total Heterotrophic Plate Counts provide a quantitative snapshot of the microbial players and the diversity of organisms present at the time of sample collection. This is a standardized method useful for understanding bacteria concentrations before starting a bioremediation project and for monitoring the same populations throughout the duration of the project.
Step 2. Microbial Identifications put a face on the microbial players and give insight on how to augment the site if necessary. If an indigenous strain of bacteria is found on site is identified and is a proven good degrader of the chosen contaminant, Biobelt Laboratories can ferment large concentrations of this bacteria for dilution and application to the contaminated areas. There has never been an occasion when this technique did not produce better than expected results by the client. This method is also has an advantage over commercially available bio-blends that need to out-compete indigenous microbial populations or may be a concern for state or local agencies who are opposed to foreign components being placed into the environment at the site.
Step 3. The Bioremediation Potential Assay (BPA) determines which bacteria are able to degrade the target contaminates and to what degree. This is done through a re-dox reaction assay that monitors the metabolic activity of the bacteria when given different carbon sources. This can be done on individual isolated strains of bacteria or entire indigenous populations. This rate is monitored and the results read by spectrophotometer to provide accurate results and graphical representation of the degradation that is occurring in real time.
Step 4. Nutrient analysis of the sample provides information that will assist in determining how to proceed with augmenting the site to chemically enhance the rate of contaminate breakdown. This can involve nitrogen and phosphorous compounds, oxidizing agents or trace minerals. Augmentation can also involve the addition of purchased microbial bio-blends. Bio-blends can also be analyzed for their effectiveness at metabolizing specific compounds before they are purchased or applied to a given location. This type of baseline bioremediation study is essential before beginning an effective remediation plan.
Routine follow-up Total Heterotrophic Plate Counts and BPA are important for monitoring the remediation rates until target concentrations are met and the site is closed.
The staff at Biobelt Laboratories has demonstrated surprising results to clients who were seemingly stuck with little options in sensitive cleanup areas.
Analytical Services:
- Total Heterotrophic Plate Counts for soil, groundwater
- Microbial monitoring of contaminated sites and bioremediation activity
- Bioremediation studies on microbial populations or individual bacteria to determine hydrocarbon degradation potential of in-situ or ex-situ locations
- Bio-blends monitoring
- Microbial identifications
- Bio-diesel remediation services
- Nutrient Analysis: Call for Pricing
- Custom BPA Studies available upon request
Turn around time (TAT) is 3 days to 2 weeks depending on the complexity of the analysis.
|
