Why Healthy Bacteria Are Vital to Wastewater Treatment

Huge volumes of wastewater are generated every day from different sources like households, industries, and agricultural activities.

It contains toxic materials, pollutants, and various forms of contaminants that can disturb the environment, cause water-borne diseases in humans, and harm flora and fauna around.

Therefore, the treatment of wastewater is essential, and a healthy community of microbes plays an instrumental role in this process.

The main goal of a sewage treatment plant is to purify wastewater up to a standard level. Physical processes are used to remove heavy solid particles from wastewater.

Thereafter, biological processes help in purifying the wastewater from soluble and insoluble organic material.

This process uses microbes to convert the wastewater into effluent, which can be released into the environment without any harmful effects.

Microbes like bacteria, protozoa, and others play the principal role of breaking down the organic material present in wastewater and purifying it.

Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as compounds like fats, proteins, and sugar, are used as food sources by bacteria.

Depending on the availability of oxygen, there are three types of bacteria that are generally used in a wastewater treatment plant.

• Aerobic Bacteria

Aerobic bacteria need a continuous supply of sufficient oxygen to act on the waste. Thus, oxygen is supplied to the treatment tank using aeration devices.

Aeration process helps the bacteria to thrive in this environment, and it efficiently breaks down the waste. It converts pollutants into energy and uses it to grow and multiply.

• Anaerobic Bacteria

Anaerobic bacteria are known to break down organic waste in the absence of oxygen. It intakes oxygen from its food source and thus does not require oxygen separately.

Highly capable of reducing sludge volumes, the anaerobic bacteria gives by-products like carbon dioxide and water. The methane gas released in the process can be used as a source of energy as well.

Moreover, anaerobic bacteria break down nitrate and nitrite into nitrogen gas through the denitrification process.

• Facultative Bacteria

Facultative bacteria can perform their function in the presence and absence of oxygen. Although it prefers aerobic conditions, it can survive otherwise as well.

Healthy bacterial community is thus essential for effective wastewater treatment. But there are several factors which affect the growth and performance of bacteria in treatment plants.

It includes dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, sludge age, and oxygen utilization. Some of these can be controlled while others can not be controlled by operators.

Moreover, factors like weather and the amount of waste generated can affect the performance of bacteria. This, in turn, can lead to the malfunction of wastewater treatment plants.

An extensive amount of wastewater is generated due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and growing population. It is often beyond the wastewater treatment plant’s capacity.

Therefore, innovative solutions are required to overcome these challenges.

Organica Biotech is one of the leading companies that offer advanced solutions for wastewater treatment. Cleanmaxx STP is a consortium of highly adaptable natural microbes that degrades high organic loads of waste effectively.

It is capable of acting upon all natural and man-made contaminants, even under shock loads. Thus, you can use Cleanmaxx STP for boosting wastewater treatment plant performance.