The term microbiology refers to extremely small life forms that are only visible with a microscope. Bacteria are among the many of these tiny life forms and, in fact, outnumber all other lifeforms many times over. A single cubic centimeter of wastewater may contain more bacteria than the entire human population on earth.
EnBiorganic Technologies utilizes microbiology in a special formulation consisting of several strains of naturally occurring soil bacteria that replace traditional microbiology for wastewater treatment solutions. The company has created an autonomous system – coupling its microbial formulation with a “smart” generator that is continuously monitored, producing a large volume and high concentration of active microbes for addition to wastewater.
The idea for this unique solution came from Rodney Dickerson, Director, CTO and Co-Founder of Environmental Bioorganic Sciences. “In 1990, I started to investigate the cause of sewer odors and determined the real problem was in the biofilm or slime inside the piping,” recalls Dickerson. “Other work I had done relating to microbiology introduced me to the concept of “competitive exclusion,” which simply means one population of microbiology dominating by denying food and nutrients to another population. It seemed natural to me to use soil microbiology because until wastewater collection and treatment was created, the soil was doing all the treatment and recycling of organic waste.”
EnBiorganic Technology is unique based on the creation and application of large volumes of a high concentration of active microbiology that are specially selected and adapted to target contaminants in the wastewater. “We select the microbial strains used in our formulations based on a combination of experience together with the analysis and testing in our laboratories,” explains Dickerson. “We produce these custom formulations that go into our customized equipment using our proprietary process, so we achieve the specific target levels of concentration and volume, delivered continually into the target wastewater stream in selected locations to achieve the desired results.” The company provides all of this wrapped into a service contract that is performance driven. This means there is no risk to the end user. “We sell results, not microbiology,” says Dickerson.
Dickerson’s original work resulted in two patents involving direct addition of formulations of soil microbes in spore state directly into the sewer at many locations in outer reaches of the system. One liter of microbial concentrate in spore state was added over the course of a month at each location. The bacteria had to “wake up” from inert state and start working. This process took many months to get enough into the sewer to change the biofilm and stop the odors altogether. Dickerson’s new approach creates high volumes of active, adapted microbiology each to be added into the sewer each day. Instead of scores of small dosing stations inside the sewer, adding one liter per month, we generate hundreds of liters per day.
Another aspect that sets EnBiorganic apart from their competition is a customized solution. While many people think all domestic wastewater is the same, that’s never the case after a proper evaluation is complete. Each municipality has some type of industry discharging into the sewer, and those discharges vary considerably. “We work with specific streams to customize what we do to withstand all but the highest concentrations, and since we are adding large amounts all the time, those periods when the chemistry is not being released allows us to regain domination,” says Dickerson.
