BiO₃ Bioaugmentation introduces specialized blends of microbes into the sewer collection system to achieve a specific objective. The objective is to reduce the odor precursors in the wastewater and achieve biosolids/sludge reduction.

Bioaugmentation not Biostimulation. Biostimulation refers to the addition of specialized nutrients in the hope that the correct, naturally occuring microbes are present in sufficient numbers and types to break down the waste effectively. Biostimulation assumes that every organism needed to accomplish the desired objective is present.

BiO₃ Bioaugmentation is a proprietary and patent pending approach to adding a select blend of fast-growing, aerobic and facultatively anaerobic microbes to the wastewater in the collection system. These microbes do not produce odor compounds and they replace the SRB’s (sulfate-reducing bacteria) in the wastewater collection system piping by ‘competitive exclusion’. This is due to the high quantity of injected microbes, to their higher growth rate, and to injecting the microbes at strategic locations within the collection system. These selected microbes cause the collection system and the treatment plant to work together as a very efficient digester resulting in much less sludge . . . and . . . less cost. Through competitive exclusion there are fewer SRB’s created. Since SRB’s create dissolved sulfides (odor precursors), less SRB’s mean less dissolved sulfides . . . and . . .less odor generated!

Not only are the microbe strains selected because of high growth attributes, but also because they interact to successively degrade the organic matter thereby synergistically enhancing the impact of the injected microbes. (For a detailed description, read on.)

Continuous augmentation is critical in most operations. The diversity of a system's microbial makeup can change over time for a variety of reasons leading to system inefficiencies. Continuous augmentation offsets variations in influent quality, system shocks and environmental factors that affect microbial diversity.

Food products waste (from residences and industries) and human digestive system waste contain microbes. Hence, the digestion process commences in the wastewater collection system. It can be thought of as a pretreatment step, albeit currently an ineffective one. The natural microbes present in the human digestive tract are not the most efficient in diluted wastewater.

There are many kinds of microbes, but one type of the most prevalent microbes occuring in the himan digestive system are SRB's (sulfate-reducing-bacteria). SRB's are anaerobes, which means they function in an environment with limited dissolved oxygen. (In an aerobic i.e. with oxygen, these anaerobes become incapacitated and die.) These SRB's use the oxygen in sulfates as part of the process of breaking down the waste, i.e. the digestive process. By this means the SRB's eat, live and multiply. Sulfides are one of the by-products of the SRB digestion process that combines with other elements to form hydrogen sulfide (H₂S ) and other sulfide compounds (mercaptans). These sulfide compounds accumulate in the wastewater as dissolved sulfides.

As wastewater flows toward the treatment plant, a biofilm (or biomass) forms on the interior surface of the collection system piping. Some strains of microbes, especially anaerobes, perform the digestion process (and the multiplication process) more efficiently when attached to a solid surface than when suspended in the wastewater. (Based on existing literature and its own work, BIO₃ believes about 80% of the dissolved sulfides found in typical wastewater is generated by microbes in the biofilm versus 20% from the suspended microbes or 'free-swimmers'.)

The biofilm flourishes in the portion of the collection system interior piping that is continuously under water, i.e. the bottom of the gravity main piping and all of the availability of air and oxygen for replenishment of dissolved oxygen. This presents an environment conducive for anaerobes to function, i.e. to build a biofilm on the piping walls, to grow and to multiply. Force mains serve as an incubator of SRB's.

Today's trend towards larger, more consolidated wastewater treatment plants requires that collection piping systems be spread over a greater area thereby increasing the need for force mains. Longer and more frequent force mains with their intermittent pumping contribute to ever increasing quantities of SRB's and dissolved sulfides.

When wastewater empties from a force main into a gravity main, into a pump station wetwell, or into the wastewater treatment plant headworks, the dissolved sulfides in the wastewater have the opportunity to offgas as H₂S and/or mercaptans (other sulfur/sulfide compounds).

Both H₂S and mercaptans are highly odiferous gasses. These odors can reach nuisance odor proportions at pump stations, treatment plant headworks and occassionally at manhole covers. Although there are other variables (such as pH and temperature, etc.) which affect the amount of odor generated, the key determinant and underlying cause of the odor is the concentration of dissolved sulfides. Other things being equal, the more dissolved sulfides there are in the wastewater, the worse the odor problem.

The H₂S gas also causes concrete corrosion in gravity main piping, air pockets in force main piping, wetwell structures and treatment plant headworks structures. The H₂S corrosion is caused in two ways:

1. H₂S combines with oxygen to form sulfuric acid (H₂SO4 ) which is very corrosive to concrete. The higher the dampness and/or humidity in the airspace above the wastewater, the more acute this problem becomes.
   
2. There are some strains of microbes, which feed off H₂S gas. These microbes, which use silica from the concrete to form their cell structure, form a biofilm above the water line. This deadly combination causes the concrete to crumble.
   

Since most wastewater treatment plants have an aerobic primary treatment process (for example: clarifier, settling basin, activated sludge basin, etc.), the SRB's, as strict anaerobes, revert to a dormant state, become incapacitated, or die in the initial step in wastewater treatment. Regardless of their state, SRB's have now become part of the waste to be removed in the treatment processes. Hence, they must be broken down, digested, or become sludge.

SRB's add to the treatment load and sludge volume. Further, the SRB's that survive the aerobic phase act to retard efficient digestion in anaerobic digesters thereby adding to the sludge problem. Therefore, the fewer SRB's that exist in the influent wastewater, the higher the treatment plant efficiency, other things being equal.

As has been stated previously, digestion begins in the collection system. Hence, the collection system is a pretreatment step whether one chooses to recognize it as such or not. In most cases it currently is an ineffective pretreatment process.

The microbes supplied by nature are usually not very efficient from a wastewater digestion standpoint. In many cases the digestive efficiency in the collection system is further degraded by the chemicals dumped into the wastewater for H₂S and/or odor control purposes.

Since the wastewater, in almost all cases, is in the collection system longer than it is in the treatment plant. It makes sense to take advantage of the opportunity and turn the collection system into an effective waste removal pretreatment step. Can it be done? Yes, BiO₃ Bioaugmentation can do it!!!

Bioaugmentation has been a recognized benefit for some time. That is why one sees so many "bug salesmen" (some claiming impossible concentrations and exaggerated benefits) and attempts to stimulate the "good" microbe growth with such things as Kelp, Papaya, Aloe Vera, Yucca, etc. Until the invention of the patent pending BiO₃ bioreactor, bioaugmentation was too costly to do with the required amount of microbes to achieve satisfactory results.

BiO₃ Bioaugmentation is the injection of large quantities of high concentrations of proprietary microbes into the wastewater flow at strategic locations in the collection system.

The microbes are injected into pump station wetwells continuously thoughout the day. Ideally, the pump stations injected are those located as far out in the collection system as possible. The purpose is to bioaugment most of the wastewater for as long as possible.

The injected proprietary microbes have numerous beneficial attributes:

High Quantity - A large amount of a high concentration of microbes are injected into the pump station wetwell. The microbes, which have been in the dormant state, become activated and multiplied in the patent pending bioreactor before being injected into the wetwell wastewater. After injection, the microbes continue to grow and multiply. The injected microbes have a high growth rate, doubling every 20 minutes under ideal conditions. This turns the pump station and the collection system into a form of a bioreactor. Depending on the dynamics of the pump station pumping, the concentration and quantity of proprietary microbes used to initiate the flow, the sewer trunk line can range from high to very high. The injected microbes become the predominate species at this point outnumbering the natural bacteria including the SRB's.

Non-Sulfate-Reducing - The injected microbes are non-sulfate-reducing. They use oxygen and nitrates as growth substitues. The by-products of their growth and digestion are carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N2O ) and oxygen, which are non-odiferous. Sulfides (hydrogen sulfide or mercaptans), methane, or carbon monoxide are not produced.

Facultative - The injected microbes are aerobic and facultatively anaerobic. This means they function best in their natural aerobic state, but they can continue to function in an anaerobic environment.

Multiple Strains & Synergistic Composition - Multiple strains of microbes are selected for their compatible, symbiotic metabolic pathways, which metabolize (digest) CBOD (Carbon Biological Oxygen Demand), BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) and TSS (Total Suspended Solids). This means that the combination of these strains will successively break down and digest the waste in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions to a far greater degree than the same quantity of only one of the microbe strains, i.e. they're a team, not one individual superbug.

Grease Loving - Some of the strains used have a great affinity for grease and effectively break it down and digest it. When a leg or trunk line of the collection system is noted for its grease build-up or pump station grease caps, a microbe mixture which is overweighted with the 'grease loving' microbes can be used.

Class 1 Microbes - Only Class 1 microbes, as defined by the American Type Culture Collection, are used. Class 1 microbes are non-pathogenic and non-opportunistic. They will not cause infections or other ill effects in humans, animals, aquatic life or plant life. These microbes are also environmentally friendly.

The injected BiO₃ microbes impact the wastewater in the collection system in several beneficial ways:

Less SRB's - With more BiO₃ microbes than SRB's in the wastewater, the BiO₃ microbes will replace, through competitive exclusion, the SRB's as the predominate biofilm species on the interior surfaces of the collection piping walls. Once established as the predominate part of the biofilm, the BiO₃ microbes continue to metabolize waste and multiply in number. This means with less biofilm wall space there will be fewer and fewer SRB's and less sulfides (since SRB's create sulfides) in the wastewater to cause odor and corrosion problems. Conversely, more and more BiO₃ microbes will be available for use capturing wall space and in waste digestion downstream.

More Effective, Efficient Pretreatment Digestion - The impact of a high quantity of microbes designed to act as a digestion team injected early in the collection system will improve both the effectiveness (doing the right job) and the efficiency (doing the right job) of the digestion in the collection system. In other words, more of the right kind of microbes with more time to work will increase the digestion performance.

Less Odor In The Collection System & Treatment Plant - Less sulfides in the wastewater also means there is a reduced level of odor in the collection system pump stations and in the treatment plant headworks. This reduced odor level may or may not remove the facility from the nuisance odor problem list. If not, then, at least the level of atmospheric odor demand is reduced which must be normalized by other means.

Less Corrosion In The Collection System - Less SRB's in the wastewater means fewer sulfides in the wastewater, which results in less hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) offgassing into the air spaces in the piping, the pump station wetwells, and the headworks wetwell. Less H₂S equates to less corrosion of concrete piping and structures.

Less Grease In The Collection System - Since grease is used for food by the 'grease loving' BiO₃ microbes, the grease in the collection system will be broken down and for the most part digested by the time the wastewater enters the treatment plant. Grease blockages in the collection system will disappear as will grease caps in the pump stations. It is generally accepted that increased pump efficiency (less power consumption) will also result.

Treatment Plant Performance Is Enhanced - Treatment plant performance is enhanced in several ways:

The influent waste is already partially consumed by the BiO₃ microbes so it is more conducive for treatment than before. Therefore, it is easier to remove. Also, with the complete digestion that has taken place in the collection system, the plant BOD/TSS loading will be reduced. This is a welcome development for overloaded plants.

BiO₃ microbes, which are now great in number, continue to function in treatment plant aerobic and anaerobic digestion processes. The microbes are young and robust and join the plant biology in the digestion task. Also, because they are in constant supply, the plant biology remains young. It is accepted by the wastewater treatment industry that the addition of fresh microbes in the treatment plant influent will improve the plant performance and stabilize plant operation. Recover from treatment plant biology 'wash-outs' is also much quicker.

Primary basin and clarifier settleability is increased, There are several possible reasons for this. 1) The injected microbes have degraded the grease/oils so there are less grease/oils in the Wastewater to float to the surface. 2) The injected microbes out compete the filamentous bacteria for food sustrates so there is less bulking. 3) There are fewer dead SRB's. According to some sources, live microbes settle out faster than dead microbes.

With fewer SRB's and dead microbes with which to contend, sludge digestion is enhanced and less sludge is produced. Also, the BiO₃ microbes do not interfere with methanogenic digestion in the anaerobic digester. This is in sharp contrast to untreated wastewater where SRB's compete with the methanogens for the same food substrates and the sulfides generated inhibit anaerobic digestion. So sludge digestion is enhanced and less sludge produced