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From time-to-time Syneco Systems, Inc., is contacted by those
wishing to conduct laboratory benchmark studies to determine the
effectiveness of our biological products in their waste system.
While there are more significant factors than can be adequately
discussed in a brief overview, an understanding of some of the
requirements for growth in bacteriological systems should
underscore the difficulty in obtaining projectable results in
laboratory bench studies.
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While most of the bacteria in our products are anaerobic, there
are some aerobes present. The synergistic relationship of the
two is critical to a healthy biomass. (Oxygen has a relatively
low solubility in water, the diffusion of oxygen across a
limited air-water interface may limit the density which a
culture can attain.) The shift from large scale cultivation
(i.e. ponds or lagoons), to a smaller scale laboratory analysis,
will markedly alter the aeration dynamics and lead to striking
changes in the composition of the bacteria in the fluid.
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The establishment of a strictly anaerobic atmosphere for
cultivation in small containers is difficult. Oxygen tensions as
low as 10 -5 atmospheres can be inhibitory. In
nature, mixed cultures are the rule, and strict anaerobes depend
on neighboring facultative organisms to scavenge oxygen. In a
lab set-up strict anaerobic conditions would not allow for the
proper growth of the facultative organisms and their much needed
synergistic impact.
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All metabolizing aerobes elevate the CO2 level in their
environment. However, in a small system this contribution is
minimal and may produce a long lag time before the initiation of
growth. All growing bacteria cells have an absolute
requirement for adequate CO2.
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In nature, the pH ranges in a large system vary greatly from
area to area and from top to bottom and thus support a specific
bacteria that is most comfortable within a given pH range. In a
small, confined culture, minute shifts in pH affect the entire
colony resulting in conditions that greatly favor the growth of
one bacteria over the rest. Obviously, this sort of shift in
growth can easily defeat the purpose of any study.
In
the interest of brevity, a number of equally critical growth
factors - vitamins, amino acids, iron-chelating compounds,
unsaturated fatty acids, nucleic acid bases, inorganic ions,
trace elements, temperature, exoenzymes - have not been
discussed. Hopefully, however, there is enough information to
further an understanding of the tremendous complexities inherent
in any biological system. Truly, the only process currently
known for determining the effectiveness of a biological product
is the full scale field test. |
