treatment facilities can be challenging. Influent from food
processing industries can introduce harmful cleaning
products. The book Wastewater Bacteria, by Michael
Gerardi, explains cleaning chemical surfactants can be
harmful to the cell membranes and cellular proteins of
wastewater microorganisms.1 Biota with damaged cellular
structures may be unable to properly metabolize the
organic substrate and nutrients in wastewater.
Bioaugmentation can be used to mitigate the harmful
effects of toxicity in wastewater systems. Implementing a
concentrated and diverse community of microorganisms
can increase functional plant biomass reducing process
recovery time from a toxic hit. The following case study
outlines bioaugmentation with BioLynceus® ProBiotic
Scrubber® II (PBII) and Candy Carbon® (CC) at an industrial
sequencing batch reactor (SBR) plant.
Figure 1. Case study industrial wastewater plant design. The facility
processes dairy wastewater with a single SBR tank (right), sludge
holding basin (middle), and equalization tank (left). The plant
experienced toxic loadings that inhibited the biological treatment.
The 0.05 MGD mechanical plant at a commercial dairy
was experiencing frequent toxic hits that were killing
off the biology in their treatment process (Figure 1).
Highly concentrated loadings of disinfection chemicals
and surfactants were introduced to the system following
equipment cleanings at the dairy. This regularly disrupted
1 Gerardi, M. (2006). Wastewater Bacteria. Hoboken, New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.Pp.184, 203.
the biological treatment at the facility. Because of the
toxic loadings, the plant effluent quality was greatly
reduced. After consulting a trusted wastewater expert,
the operators at the plant were advised to augment their
system with new biology to restart the treatment process.
Figure 2. SBR tank processing high strength dairy wastewater.
A regimen of PBII and CC was implemented to get the
biological treatment going after a toxic loading. PBII
supplied the plant with a functional community of
microorganisms to facilitate wastewater processing, and
the CC provided a readily available carbon source for the
added biology. The goals of bioaugmentation were to (1)
improve the treatment process recovery time and (2)
stimulate the biological treatment by increasing biomass.
Soon after the initial inoculation of PBII and CC, the
wastewater operators commented on the fast recovery
time and efficiency of their restored biological treatment.
The plant was functioning properly after just a few days of
treatment. Additionally, bioaugmentation with PBII and
CC improved the effluent quality discharged by the facility.
Working with BioLynceus® and their affiliates helped the SBR
operate efficiently and restart with ease after toxic loadings.
BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II and Candy Carbon® help mitigate wastewater plant toxicity.