Bioremediation - doing it right!
Picking up from our previous article “Oil Spill Clean-Up Explained”
Method 4: Biological agents
Microorganisms can assist with accelerating the biodegradation of oil spills especially along shorelines. Clean-up crews can (& do!) accelerate this process either by adding fertilisers which encourage microbial growth or by introducing specially engineered microorganism which are purpose built to eat oil… BUT!!
Concerns over the use of Additives in Bioremediation.
Despite the success of bioremediation technology applications in groundwater remediation, a number of issues have been identified with the use of additives in bioremediation.
These include biofouling, stalling, system bypassing or short circuiting, reduction in hydraulic conductivity, contaminant plume displacement and dilution as well as pH and secondary water quality issues.
The Science bit..
Microbes as “special” additives can be used to enhance Bioremediation - a process called Bioaugmentation.
Microbes are typically included to stimulate microorganism growth and accelerate contaminant degradation in engineered bioremediation systems.
Other common additives used in engineered bioremediation include organic carbon, oxygen, nutrients, and pH modifiers. Organic carbon substrate is the most important and widely used additive.
The inclusion of Additives raises separate concerns.
Too much substrate generates organic acids and causes decreases in the pH of groundwater. In addition, anaerobic reductive dechlorination generates HCl that could also decrease groundwater pH.
A decrease in pH to the acidic range could potentially mobilize metals (notably iron, manganese) and metalloids (arsenic), creating secondary water quality issues and could also inhibit growth of bacteria communities such as Dehalococcoides, thereby stopping the bioremediation process.
If nitrate is used, by products including nitrite, nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen gas could be generated. (The predominant by product depends on the enzymes possessed by the microbes, present.)
Changes in redox conditions can also enhance solubilization of metals and promote the formation of the following undesirable products (e.g., hydrogen sulphide and methane gases) Ref [1]
The Solution:
Oil Spill Eater (OSE II) is the world's most environmentally safe & cost-effective bioremediation product, for the mitigation of hazardous waste, spills & contamination.
OSE II is the Only Approved (Ecologically safe) Bioremediation agent for use on Land, Water & Sea by the UK’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO)
- OSE II is an environmentally safe clean-up method because it uses nature's own bioremediation process to effectively eliminate hazardous materials.
- OSE II is not a bacteria, fertilizer or dispersant product, it too does not contain any foreign bacteria or non-indigenous organisms.
- OSE II does not require the use of potentially harmful Additives.
- OSE II contains nutrients which attract indigenous bacteria that rapidly colonise / grow in numbers, speeding up spill remediation.
- OSE II is a biological enzyme that converts the waste into a natural food source for the native bacteria found in the environment.
- The end result is only CO2 & water.
When OSE II is applied to an oil spill, the oil’s molecular structure begins to breakdown immediately and in a short time, visually disappears.
Bio surfactants help by connecting with the oil molecules and breaking down the covalent and ionic bonds, creating small micelles (oil droplets). The process rapidly reduces the toxicity of the oil, making it more bioavailable to indigenous bacteria that then utilise the oil as a food source.
A one step cleaning procedure; usually there is no need for additional cleaning processes, such as collecting with booms & skimmers or disposing of effluent!
Part 4 in our series of articles clarifies the differences & benefits of using OSE II as your Bioremediation solution of choice " - WHY OIL SPILL EATER INSTEAD OF FERTILIZERS?
CLEANING · CONTAINMENT · ABSORPTION · REMEDIATION