Although the most sensational aspects of a major oil spill usually disappear from the news cycle quickly, the long-term environmental damage lingers for months or years. The sight of animal rescue teams cleaning waterbirds illustrates visible damage, but some of the most important cleanup work today is being done by micro-organisms. Bioremediation companies use them to literally consume environmental pollutants.
These creatures include bacteria and associated enzymes, yeasts, and fungi. All help to break down and destroy naturally occurring pollutants, including crude oil. While effective, the process takes time, and works more efficiently when the bacteria being used already favor a particular substance. In some instances, the natural processes need additional stimulation in order to more rapidly clean large areas.
When these organisms consume a particular pollutant, they not only produce nutrients and energy, but also digest the contaminant, removing it from the local food chain. Convincing them to eat more than is normal usually requires bio-stimulation. If oxygen levels are increased in water where beneficial microbes already exist, the creatures metabolize nutrients faster. Bio-augmentation takes the process a step further.
Often used in combination with aeration, augmentation basically means increasing the population of existing beneficial microbes by adding large quantities of artificially grown organisms of the same type. This helps nature take its course, but without wasting as much time. If these new additions are balanced properly, existing toxins will be broken down faster into sulfates, carbon dioxide, water, and other beneficial materials.
Biological remediation works both in water and on land. Before environmental regulations were tightened in the past century, hydrocarbon pollution under fuel storage units and on former military installations was simply covered over. They remained toxic for years, and sometimes polluted ground water while increasing local cancer rates. Traditional cleanup methods use disruptive earth-moving equipment to remove soil, which must then be safely transported and stored.
Surface soil disruption is eliminated when microbes are encouraged to do the most difficult work. Specific types of creatures prefer to eat a variety of toxic materials, but do not create hazardous by-products that must be contained afterward. Their biological processes help sustain other creatures in the ecosystem, allowing wildlife populations to return to normal levels. It is an ideal way to better clean up hard-to-reach locales.
Biological remediation is not possible in all toxic situations. Although bacteria have adapted to include many hazards in their diet, some substances are simply too poisonous, or may cover an area too large to be effectively transformed using this type of remediation. To be optimally effective, a site must be monitored regularly to confirm that improvements are ongoing. When time is an important factor, it is still quicker to use earth-moving equipment.
For the companies involved, final expenses for this type of remediation can be less than half, as well as reducing the cost of insuring workers. Without the need for a secure storage site, there are far fewer concerns about additional contamination or chemical evaporation. In many cases, careful monitoring and care not only encourages microorganisms to restore the habitat, but can accomplish much of that goal in a period of months.
These creatures include bacteria and associated enzymes, yeasts, and fungi. All help to break down and destroy naturally occurring pollutants, including crude oil. While effective, the process takes time, and works more efficiently when the bacteria being used already favor a particular substance. In some instances, the natural processes need additional stimulation in order to more rapidly clean large areas.
When these organisms consume a particular pollutant, they not only produce nutrients and energy, but also digest the contaminant, removing it from the local food chain. Convincing them to eat more than is normal usually requires bio-stimulation. If oxygen levels are increased in water where beneficial microbes already exist, the creatures metabolize nutrients faster. Bio-augmentation takes the process a step further.
Often used in combination with aeration, augmentation basically means increasing the population of existing beneficial microbes by adding large quantities of artificially grown organisms of the same type. This helps nature take its course, but without wasting as much time. If these new additions are balanced properly, existing toxins will be broken down faster into sulfates, carbon dioxide, water, and other beneficial materials.
Biological remediation works both in water and on land. Before environmental regulations were tightened in the past century, hydrocarbon pollution under fuel storage units and on former military installations was simply covered over. They remained toxic for years, and sometimes polluted ground water while increasing local cancer rates. Traditional cleanup methods use disruptive earth-moving equipment to remove soil, which must then be safely transported and stored.
Surface soil disruption is eliminated when microbes are encouraged to do the most difficult work. Specific types of creatures prefer to eat a variety of toxic materials, but do not create hazardous by-products that must be contained afterward. Their biological processes help sustain other creatures in the ecosystem, allowing wildlife populations to return to normal levels. It is an ideal way to better clean up hard-to-reach locales.
Biological remediation is not possible in all toxic situations. Although bacteria have adapted to include many hazards in their diet, some substances are simply too poisonous, or may cover an area too large to be effectively transformed using this type of remediation. To be optimally effective, a site must be monitored regularly to confirm that improvements are ongoing. When time is an important factor, it is still quicker to use earth-moving equipment.
For the companies involved, final expenses for this type of remediation can be less than half, as well as reducing the cost of insuring workers. Without the need for a secure storage site, there are far fewer concerns about additional contamination or chemical evaporation. In many cases, careful monitoring and care not only encourages microorganisms to restore the habitat, but can accomplish much of that goal in a period of months.
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