Frequently Asked Questions and Answers For Microbelift Product Applications
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers For Microbelift Product Applications
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers For Microbelift Product Applications
April 2009
Section Topics
A About IND
C Application
A) About IND
Answer : I think that the most logical explanation for the bloated
bottles is Boyle’s Ideal Gas Law, PV = nRT, which states
that pressure in a sealed container will increase with
increasing temperature since V, n and R are constants. If I
take a container of milk out of the refrigerator and let it
warm up 5 degrees F. it will become bloated with no
changes in the milk. There may also be some gas
generation, like H2S, at the higher temperatures as the
higher temperatures counteract some of the inhibitory
effects of the H2S and there is some additional activity.
product
First of all, there is no spec for color since there is no direct correlation
between color and performance. It is not paint. The product is a living
thing and the colour is caused by the pigment from photosynthetic
bacteria.
Can you be more specific on how the product does not work? There is
always some degree of performance result variation in biological
treatment which is why we cannot guarantee performance, but we will
certainly address issues related to poor product quality.
2. Volume Change
The filler used to fill the product into the bottle is an overflow filler, and,
if people are seeing any difference, it is because they are getting more
than a gallon and not less. However, despite this, we have agreed that
there will be weekly monitoring and calibration of the filling heads to
give more uniform results. I agree that it just looks better, even though
it doesn't have any impact on quality.
You clients are assured that each bottle contains NOT less than 1 US
gallon.
“Microbelift IND” is particularly successful in the treatment of phenolic wastes with large
concentrations of oils and fats and extremely offensive odours.
“Microbelift IND” assists in efficiency of lagoons, septic tanks, grease traps, activated
sludge systems and other treatment facilities. It also significantly reduces
contamination so as to minimize expensive cleaning and pumping procedures, and
reduce operation costs significantly.
In addition to being safe for the environment, “Microbelift IND” provides the most
economical, effective waste-water treatment available. The addition of live bacteria
(Bioaugmentation) into the waste-water is very cost efficient because the bacteria are
living and multiply very quickly when fed. One organism will reproduce into over 16
million organisms in a 24-hour period. The waste in the water is the bacteria’s food,
and so long as there is waste in the water, the bacteria in “Microbelift IND” will continue
to multiply and digest the waste. When the waste is gone, the bacteria die off and get
recycled safely into the environment.
“Microbelift IND” is ideal for application in almost all waste-water coming from all
industries, so long as the waste is principally organic in its content. Over 99% of all
waste-water is suitable for treatment with “Microbelift IND”.
B12 Question : How will I know that the “Microbelift IND” is working
after I apply it?
Answer : A gray covering on the water will form, and bubbles and
foam may appear. Floating pieces of solids may appear.
Presence of odours may increase in the short term as the
production of gases increases from dissolved solids.
B14 Question : In the event if the treatment plant uses its own
cultivated-microbes, how would “Microbelift IND”
bacteria co-exist with bacteria cultivated naturally by
the plant itself, or will “Microbelift IND” bacteria
demolish those bacteria cultivated independently?
Answer : The bacteria already in the plant will have some common
organisms as the “Microbelift IND”. “Microbelift IND” will
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FOR MICROBELIFT PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
work with and augment the good organisms and digest the
ineffective organisms. It’s a win-win situation since only the
strongest organisms survive which are the ones that can
effectively treat the waste. The ones that do not survive are
ineffective anyway.
the [H+] ions and [OH-} radicals will react to form water with
the residual ions to form salt (NaCl) in a predictable,
quantifiable reaction.
In Summary
B21 Question : Typically, what is retention time required for IND? Can
we calculate retention time according to the tank size
and the rate of inflow, for instance, if the tank size is 10
M3 and the wastewater inflow is 1 M3 per day, can we
consider the retention time is equivalent to 10 days?
Answer : The ideal retention time for IND is 7 days minimum, and
depending on the nature and quantity of substrates.
When there are more substrates at the top of the tank for
the bacteria to concentrate on degrading, then there will
more outflow of bacteria as well. Therefore, maintenance
dosage in this case is definitely required.
B22 Question : Can we stop the aeration after using IND, since IND has
a lot of anaerobic bacteria?
excellent results there were two key actors that kept us from
capitalizing on these results and becoming one of the
dominant players in the U.S.market.
A third factor was that we only had one product for many
years but have recently come up with a complete line of
industrial and municipal products. We were also the
highest priced product on the market due to that fact that
MICROBE-LIFT is grown in the bottle it is sold in, giving us
a slight disadvantage cost wise in production. When we
moved our plant to Florida, automated and scaled up
production we were able to realize economies of scale that
have allowed us to lower our prices over the past few years.
We have also been able to find suitable 5 gallon and 55
gallon in which we could produce the product which was not
thought to be possible earlier.
B24 Question : How does the Sun and weather effect the process?
Answer : If the aeration basins are open i.e. not covered and there is
abundant sunlight, then the system will derive more benefit
from the photosynthetic bacteria.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FOR MICROBELIFT PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
Answer : No, they will not have to build any additional retention
capacity. By enhancing the overall process kinetics, we will
be able to accomplish more within the existing system.
B26 Question : From your experience, what is the typical the amount of
sludge we are able to reduce in most waste water treatment
system?
Answer : There are two ways in which we can alleviate the cost and
other logistical issues involved with sludge handling. First,
we lower the yield coefficient which results in less sludge
produced in the process. This is somewhat specific from
plant to plant depending on design parameters, etc. In
most cases we have been able to reduce sludge generation
from 25 - 40% with a best case of close to 70%.
B27 Question : How does the existence of hard metal effect the
process?
B28 Question : The pilot river treatment proposal by Cinotech has only
one and half hour retention time and Cinotech intend to
introduce lots of biomedia into the river to circumvent
the extreme short retention time. How can this work?
Answer : In trickling filters the HRT is often less than one hour yet
removals of 85 – 90% are regularly achieved with sewage
(BODs around 200) due to the amount of biofilm.
Answer : Yes, Ind can cleave benzene ring through the activity of
dioxygenase enzymes certain organisms in the product
synthesize. Once the ring is open, it is like breaking down a
straight chain compound. This is fairly easy to
demonstrate. This is the same enzyme that plays a key
role in the ring opening of phenol and other substituted
aromatic rings as well. These pathways are documented
and can be verified easily.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FOR MICROBELIFT PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
C Microbelift Application
control
C11 Question : After using Microbelift IND, are they still need to
use the aeration blowers? Is digester and other
equipments in any existing system that can be
removed after using Microbelift IND?
The keys to avoid toxicity for fish is to dilute before addition since
the material is viscous and takes a while to disperse in its
concentrated form. If a fish swims through a "hot spot" and its
gills get coated, it may die. The effect is not due to intoxication
but due to formation of a barrier on the gills, which inhibits the
transfer of oxygen through the gills so the effect is more
mechanical than toxic.
By blending you can get the right 5:1 ratio of N to P required for
most applications, but each situation must be evaluated and then
treated accordingly. In creased loads and variations in influents
most be reviewed in order to adjust the nutrient dosage.
C18 Question State the bacteria group/s in IND that attack FOG
Answer The species involved in the breakdown of the FOG are
the: Rhodopseudomonas sp., Flavobacter sp., and Bacillus
sp.
C20 Question What are the types of gases likely to emit from
sugar ethanol plant waste water pond? Please
recommend a good method of measurement of
these gases.
Answer In addition to ethanol, the liquor from ethanol
production from corn also contains acetic acid,
propionic acid, a mixture of higher boiling or non-
volatile hyroxylated, dicarboxylic, amino and other
nitrogenous acids. The bad odor emanating from this
kind of waste is likely from proionic acid, an organic
acid that give the distinct odor and taste to Swiss
cheese (Propionibacter is used in Swiss cheese
production) in addition to acetic acid.
C27 Question Angeline has requested for ammonia removal for the
shrimp pond test. This is for a newly developed
recreational shrimp pond development in Singapore.
The mature shrimp are brought in and placed in a 20
cu m holding pond before gradually being transfered
to the fishing pond for recreational fishing. The owner
is conducting a water conditioning test on a 1.5 cu m
(400 gallon) fibre glass tank to test for suitable water
conditioning products. See DSCN2955 photo. I used
Microbelift IND in this tank. The water improved on
day 2 and 3. On day 4, nitrite and nitrate content
increased drastically and the shrimp died. We will be
running a test with the Ammonia removal which can
remove the ammonia much faster than the Microbelift
IND.
Therefore if the shrimp tanks in the picture does not have a filter
or bio media, where anaerobic possesses can take place the
nitrate would have to be removed by water change. If this is the
case, add IND along with a large amount of bio balls, or other
media to allow bio films to develop. You may also add or a
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
FOR MICROBELIFT PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
second non aerated tank will bio balls or filter media and
reticulate the water through this chamber to remove nitrate via
denitrification.
I am not aware if they have our Nite Out ll, this would assist in
rapid ammonia removal. However as you know our IND will
speed ammonia removal as long as they have adequate
carbonate alkalinity.