How to use EM for wastewater treatment
In the recent tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, cleanup efforts with Effective Microorganisms were conducted in conjunction with the Red Cross, the Centre for Disease Control, and the governments of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia. These applications not only demonstrated the awesome odour controlling power of Effective Microorganisms, but also the ability of EM-1 in preventing outbreaks of disease.
EM-1 Waste Treatment has a unique ability to stabilize complex proteins through a shift from anaerobic putrefaction cycles to a fermentative cycle. Hair and plastics can play havoc with the balancing of an anaerobic digester by creating over-thickening of the scum layer. Hair is primarily composed of complex proteins, which have been historically difficult to stabilize to a point at which the biological break-down will occur in a timely manner. EM-1 Waste Treatment will assist by accelerating protein stabilization.
As much as 40% of sludge, by weight, added to a digestion system is non-degradable, some of which are derived from plastic particles. Plastics derived from vegetable-based oils may be broken down biologically, but require a much longer time than most facilities/equipment allow. With Effective Microorganisms as part of the treatment cycle, one can achieve a greater amount of breakdown in a shorter amount of time.
EM-1 Waste Treatment is applied at various stages in the treatment process for optimum results. The application site and dosage amounts are dependent on the type of treatment system, the age of the system, and the goals of the parties involved. Application rates can vary from 1:1,000 to 1:40,000. The average rate into a treatment system is around 1:10,000 (Activated EM-1: daily flow).
The bane of any wastewater treatment system is grease that causes the formation of grease balls, crowning, and clogging within the collection system and slugs of grease entering into the wastewater plant.
The microbes in EM-1 Waste Treatment will digest, not emulsify, rotten grease in the system. This is evidenced by a reduction of COD, after application to grease traps within the waste stream. EM-1 Waste Treatment lowers the cloud point of the oils, fats and grease within the trap, eliminating the formation of paraffin’s, thereby reducing gas pockets of H2S gas formed around putrefactive food particles. EM-1 Waste Treatment improves efficiency of the treatment plant skimmer tanks to capture a greater amount grease.
Biological polishing of the sewer pipes occurs as the EM-1 Waste Treatment is seeded throughout the collection system, thus reducing clogging and crowning from saponifiable or non-saponifiabe grease.
The microbes in EM-1 Waste Treatment secrete beneficial substances such as organic acids, chelated minerals and antioxidants when in contact with organic matter. In wastewater applications, EM-1 Waste Treatment assists in shifting conditions from putrefactive to non-putrefactive. This unique ability enables EM-1 Waste Treatment to transition the wastewater collection system into a pretreatment system, thereby lowering the loading demand on wastewater treatment plants. Essentially, consistent applications of Effective Microorganisms Technologies into the collection system will increase the capacity of the treatment plant, decrease the operation costs, and improve the efficiency of the entire system.
Since every treatment system is in itself a separate ecosystem, one has to custom-design each application for a wastewater treatment system after an assessment of the entire system. Generally, a targeted activation is made and application rates vary from 1 part EM-1/EM-A to 10,000-30,000 parts wastewater.