upsets when toxic loads are introduced. Specifically,
the chemicals used in illicit drug manufacturing can
cause significant harm to the microbial communities in
surface waters.1
Municipal lagoon systems are especially vulnerable to
these chemicals, because they receive high strength
influent directly from urban sources. The remainder of
this document discusses the use of ProBiotic Scrubber®
II (PBII) to augment a lagoon system struggling with
biomass die off from various causes .
Figure 1. Google Earth image of the 0.3 MGD wastewater lagoon system.
The operators of the wastewater lagoons servicing a
Wyoming town of 2,000 people realized their three-cell
system (Figure 1) was becoming very unhealthy. This
was evident because the wastewater in the ponds had a
strong odor and changed color. The facility management
and a Wyoming Rural Water Wastewater Technician
(WRWWT) concluded the biology in the system was
killed off by toxic chemicals that were introduced
through the collection system from chemicals making
in the area. Concerned about the long recovery time
1 Lee S., Paspalof A., Snow D., Richmond K., Rosi-Marshall J., & Kelly J. (2016). Occurrence and Potential Biological Effects of Amphetamine on Stream Communities. Environmental Science Technology. 50 (17): 9727-9735.
for the lagoon biology to regenerate naturally, the
management sought a solution to expedite the process.
They hired BioLynceus® to restore the biomass needed
to properly process wastewater again.
After assessing the system, the WRWWT recommended
augmenting the lagoons with BioLynceus® PBII. The
plant operators manually applied the product at the
influent of cell one. Within three days, the treatment
helped replenish the biomass in the first cell and
started properly processing wastewater. The following
two cells were operating efficiently within a week.
The management at the facility was pleased with the
treatment, because the health of the system improved
in half the time of previously used methods.
Additional benefits of the PBII treatment included
decreased odors from the ponds and improved
wastewater coloring. The odor reduction relieved the
treatment facility employees and town residents of
unpleasant smells. Secondly, the wastewater color was
restored back to a normal appearance. These results
indicated that, after treatment, the system had a stable
and functional biomass. Using PBII also helped the
lagoon system quickly recover from toxicity. The plant
now uses PBII twice a year and as needed whenever
they experience a chemical load that kills off the biology.
BioLynceus® ProBiotic Scrubber® II provides wastewater biomass stability after toxicity.