Biostimulation Microcosm Studies

Australia is famous for many things, but nutrient-rich soil or groundwater is not one of them. Often microbes in the environment are limited for basic nutrients (ammonium and/or phosphate). Fortunately, it is a relatively simple exercise to determine if the desired biodegradation process can be enhanced through the provision of simple nutrient amendments in microcosm studies. You supply us with groundwater and we incubate the samples in the presence of nutrients, monitoring for transformation of the contaminant of concern, changes in microbe abundance and consumption of the nutrients. In this way, we equip clients with clear data suggesting biostimulation will or will not work in situ.

The bioavailability of reduced organic matter to power reductive dechlorination is key to successful biodegradation of organochlorines in groundwater. Reduced organic matter not only supplies the reducing equivalents needed for reductive dechlorination, it drives the redox potential of groundwater down, creating optimal conditions for organochlorine-respiring bacteria and their fermentative support team. More often than not, organochlorine-contaminated sites do not have the requisite reduced organic matter to transform all contaminants of concern into harmless end products. Novorem can cost-effectively assess the impact of supplying a suitable electron donor to groundwater samples, enabling clean decision making for site management.