Use of a Microbial Biostimulant to Stablize and Reduce Effluent TSS and COC, Even With Higher BOD Loading, 1998 Environmental Conference Proceedings

The use of enzymes are accepted in the pulp and paper industry to accelerate specific biological reactions. A recently patented multienzymatic microbial biostimulant, when applied to effluent treatment plants, overcomes some environmental limits to enzymatic activity and increases the rate of biologic activity. The technology restarts biological reactions at the cellular level. The paper discusses the first side-by-side pilot scale test of this technology in the United States in a sludge reactor that has been purposefully overloaded. Results show an increasing rate of reduction to volatile solids, more gas production, less hydrogen sulfide and stabilization of biologic treatment compared to an untreated control cell. Full scale applications into three different organic waste streams are then described. These include sludge-filled aerated stabilization basins for reducing the rate of sludge buildup and eliminating odor, a high rate pure oxygen activated sludge plant to reduce and stabilize effluent TSS and COD, and a complex lagoon system to reduce sludge volumes, effluent COD and ammonia. Use of a multienzymatic microbial biostimulant can drive biologic treatment to lower, more stable levels, reduce the rate of sludge buildup, eliminate filamentous bulking and noxious odors from effluent treatment plants.