Bioremediation uses microorganisms, often readily available in nature, to degrade organic contaminants in soil or groundwater usually at considerably lower costs compared to chemical treatment or off site disposal.

For bioremediation to be successful certain critical parameters must be established or maintained within the soil or water to be remediated.  These are primarily moisture, nutrients and sufficient oxygen (for aerobic biodegradation) along with the optimum temperature.  The correct conditions allow the microbes to grow and multiply digesting the target chemicals.  When the conditions are not right the microbial population falls and remediation efficiency falls with it and so it is important that only an experienced contractor, such as MB Envirotech, is used for the deployment of this technique.

Types of Bioremediation

The three main types of bioremediation MB Envirotech offer are as follows:

• Biostimulation -- Nutrients and oxygen are added in a liquid or gas form to ex-situ contaminated soil or insitu soil or groundwater to stimulate the growth and activity of indigenous bacteria. The creation of a controlled environment ensures that the degradation of the contaminants is monitored and maintained for rapid remediation.  
• Bioaugmentation -- Microorganisms that are specifically chosen for remediating particular contaminants are added to the contaminated soil or water. MB Envirotech currently have a range of available strains.  Our products can be used to treat, amongst others, PAH’s, BTEX, Diesel, Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and creosotes.  Our trained experts will advise on their suitability. 
• Intrinsic Bioremediation – Sometimes referred to as natural attenuation, this type of bioremediation occurs naturally in contaminated soil or water. This natural bioremediation is the work of indigenous microorganisms and is often already established at petroleum contaminated sites which have been contaminated for a long period of time, such as old petrol stations with leaking underground oil tanks.  This technique requires close monitoring of contaminant degradation to ensure that the environment and human health are protected.  Should a faster solution be required then up scaling to one of the other techniques detailed above can be offered.  
• An alternative method for accelerating the natural attenuation process is by the addition of a chemical oxidation product.

MB Envirotech have the necessary plant, equipment and licences to undertake bioremediation projects all of which are controlled via the Multibuster® unit/s.  Our bioremediation systems can easily be used in combination with other MB Envirotech technologies to provide a wider range of treatable contaminants and to decrease the remediation time by up to 50% of ‘normal’ in-situ methods.

Please call or e-mail to discuss the applicability of this technique to one of your sites.