The Role of Microorganisms in Wastewater and Secondary Processing
The bustling metropolis of microscopic life inside wastewater treatment plants is endlessly fascinating to operators and scientists alike. But the larger swimming and crawling creatures that call these engineered habitats home also play important roles in purification processes. Inside clarifiers, aeration tanks, oxidation ditches and beyond, these Microorganisms significantly influence — both good and bad — the performance of biological wastewater treatment.
Vital Contributors or Voracious Invaders
Macroinvertebrates ranging from rotifers and nematodes just visible to the naked eye all the way up to decided fats and slithering snakes have been observed thriving in the supportive artificial wetlands created by wastewater plants. Some species are deliberately introduced to aid treatment while others sneak in on their own from nearby ponds, rivers and woodlands through inlet pipes or by air. Their influence on purification varies dramatically according to feeding habits. Shredders like larval flies gnaw on solids, helping break down debris. Collectors like midge fly larvae consume loose organics, aiding digestion. Predators like diving beetles hunt other organisms, regulating populations. However, the story tends to be more complicated than these idealized roles suggest...
Heroes or Villains Among the Sludge?
Certain Microorganisms boost purification performance inside tanks and ponds. For example, sludge-dwelling Tubifex worms burrow through thick sediments, creating paths for improved oxygen transport needed by microbes during aerobic digestion. And some midge and mosquito larvae secrete extra polymeric substances that improve bioflocculation. Flatworms like planaria even directly consume pathogenetic E. coli and salmonella.
However, the benefits macroinvertebrates provide are often offset by detrimental impacts. Massive mosquito hatches can clog outlet screens. Damselfly nymphs damage equipment by chewing through cables and plastic tubing. Muskrats burrow into earthen pond walls, compromising infrastructure. Living organisms also contribute significantly to scum layers, short-circuiting and solids washout problems. And macropredators that keep midge and worm numbers in check like dragonfly naiads also hamper microbial growth by competing for shared food resources of dissolved organics and nutrients.
Macroinvertebrates have even shut down full-scale plants. A Canadian trickling filter bed was temporarily overridden by long-bodied worms dubbed “sewage eels” growing over a foot long! And New York City struggles against profuse Asian clam infestations in aeration tanks that require system dewatering for manual removal every few years. Clearly Microorganisms exhibit a puzzling mix of helper and hindrance in biological processes.
Maintenance Challenges and Mitigation Measures
Monitoring and managing macroinvertebrates induces serious headaches for operators. Simply sampling populations poses difficulties given diverse motility and settlement habits across species. Worm traps and net tows help capture organisms, but yield variable biased subsets. Larval insect counts require temporary basin draining and visual hunting across surface sediments. Trends are thus hard to quantify reliably over time or space.
When problematic masses emerge, few control options exist beyond tedious manual removal. Trapping floating adults or shocking larvae help temporarily reduce numbers. But absent continuous intervention, most populations rapidly recover as new life stages hatch and develop. Biological controls like stocking predaceous fish or filtering inlet pipes to block eggs and larvae work in isolated settings but fail across large facilities. Ultimately, maintaining conditions less conducive for macrogrowth through dissolved oxygen, solids and flow management seems most prudent.
Researchers continue seeking sustainable strategies. Experiments adding enzymes that hamper larval fly digestion look promising. New ultrasonic and electrical devices that inhibit macroattachment also show potential. And integrating natural or constructed wetlands acting as buffer zones before inlet works could filter recruits. But widespread, reliable solutions remain scarce despite the significance of Microorganisms.
An Intriguing Ecology Persists
The net influence macroinvertebrates exert remains debatable and likely case specific. Density-dependent impacts suggest moderate populations aid processes, while larger masses hinder performance past thresholds. Also, different species play contrasting roles — precisely parsing out individual effects still challenges researchers. Clearly though, macroscopically-conspicuous organisms profoundly shape community dynamics and purification capacities inside biological treatment units.
Efforts spent reducing macroorganism interference could focus instead on capitalizing on their services through integrated ecological engineering. For example, flowing facultative lagoons or vegetation-interspersed wetlands relying on natural macroinvertebrate communities may achieve similar or better treatment than trying to exclude organisms from industrialized processes. In such designed ecosystems, visible insects and worms become featured attractions rather than just pesky intruders.
With growing adoption of natural treatment systems, tolerant macroinvertebrate species will likely expand roles and shift perceptions in wastewater management. Continued research and experience will help balance their complex biological impacts. Until innovative alternatives emerge though, keeping sight of dynamic macroorganism influences inside treatment plants remains imperative for optimizing process performance.
Conclusion
Macroinvertebrates represent fascinating indicators of processing conditions within wastewater systems. Their visible activities integrally link microscopic bacterial and chemical transformations to tangible physical outcomes operators care most about. While influences range broadly from invaluable contributors to detrimental invaders, clarifying their shifting community ecology promises insights that may elevate purification plant function through both conventional and unconventional biological pathways.
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