When a major oil spill occurs, the environmental effects linger long after the story disappears from the daily news cycle. Crews are almost always shown rescuing local birds and other affected animals, but the most significant cleanup efforts today involve creatures that exist and work on a much smaller scale. Bioremediation companies use naturally occurring organisms to consume and destroy man-made 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.
As these organisms consume a pollutant they find appealing, they produce energy from the nutrients that allows them to multiply. When digested, contaminants are systematically removed from both the food chain and the soil. By increasing the oxygen level of contaminated regions where beneficial bacteria already live, metabolic rates are increased. Bio-augmentation further aids the process.
Augmentation means adding large numbers of existing microbes to a polluted area where similar creatures currently thrive. When combined with the higher oxygen levels obtained through aeration, nature still takes its course, but much more rapidly. When the number and type of creatures are carefully balanced, toxins soon become sulfates, carbon dioxide, water, and other materials.
Biological remediation is not limited to bodies of water. During the past century, the pressures of World War II sidelined environmental concerns, and fuel storage units on military sites often leaked deep underground during the following years. Some contaminated the ground water, increasing local rates of certain diseases, including cancer. Cleanup traditionally involved earth-moving equipment, and a controlled storage facility.
Encouraging microbes do the dirty cleanup work reduces surface disruption and digging, and the process can be specifically targeted toward a particular contaminant. Rather than producing additional toxic disposal issues, microorganisms create by-products that actually serve as food for other local creatures. This method costs less over the long-term, and is ideal in locations that are physically difficult to reach.
Not all toxic contamination can be effectively removed biologically. There are some materials that even the hardiest bacteria cannot consume, and the size and extent of the pollution site is also important in determining whether this type of remediation will work as intended. Sites must be monitored to make sure toxins are steadily diminishing, and it takes micro-organisms longer to do their job when compared to mechanically removing and containing the topsoil.
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.
As these organisms consume a pollutant they find appealing, they produce energy from the nutrients that allows them to multiply. When digested, contaminants are systematically removed from both the food chain and the soil. By increasing the oxygen level of contaminated regions where beneficial bacteria already live, metabolic rates are increased. Bio-augmentation further aids the process.
Augmentation means adding large numbers of existing microbes to a polluted area where similar creatures currently thrive. When combined with the higher oxygen levels obtained through aeration, nature still takes its course, but much more rapidly. When the number and type of creatures are carefully balanced, toxins soon become sulfates, carbon dioxide, water, and other materials.
Biological remediation is not limited to bodies of water. During the past century, the pressures of World War II sidelined environmental concerns, and fuel storage units on military sites often leaked deep underground during the following years. Some contaminated the ground water, increasing local rates of certain diseases, including cancer. Cleanup traditionally involved earth-moving equipment, and a controlled storage facility.
Encouraging microbes do the dirty cleanup work reduces surface disruption and digging, and the process can be specifically targeted toward a particular contaminant. Rather than producing additional toxic disposal issues, microorganisms create by-products that actually serve as food for other local creatures. This method costs less over the long-term, and is ideal in locations that are physically difficult to reach.
Not all toxic contamination can be effectively removed biologically. There are some materials that even the hardiest bacteria cannot consume, and the size and extent of the pollution site is also important in determining whether this type of remediation will work as intended. Sites must be monitored to make sure toxins are steadily diminishing, and it takes micro-organisms longer to do their job when compared to mechanically removing and containing the topsoil.
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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