SBIR Phase I: Early detection of Bulking and Foaming in Wastewater Treatment using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostics

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the development of a low-cost diagnostic to end bulking and foaming events in wastewater treatment plants (WTTP) by providing early warning to plant operators allowing preventative action. The activated sludge process the modern method to treat sewerage was developed in the early 1900 to prevent the spread of disease as people moved to the cities during the industrial revolution and waterborne disease caused many deaths. Activated sludge relies on a biological process to remove suspended solids from wastewater for treatment so clean water or effluent is returned to surface waters for human and environmental use. Bulking or foaming occurs when certain culprit bacteria grow out of proportion to total bacteria, resulting in raw sewerage being discharged with the effluent. An extreme event can cost a wastewater treatment plant several hundreds of thousands of dollars in compliance fines, damage to plant or equipment, and operational costs. Broader economic costs occur if beaches or marinas are closed during an event. Early detection of bulking and foaming events will provide for powerful tools to facilitate more effective operation of wastewater treatment plants. The objective of this Phase 1 research project is to develop a molecular test using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques that can be done on site by wastewater treatment plant (WTTP) personnel to provide early warning of bulking and foaming events - up to three weeks advance warning allowing WWTP operators to take preventative action to avoid economic costs, loss of energy production and threats to public health. Bulking and foaming is caused by 28 culprit bacteria. Currently the industry relies on microscopy which is subjective; requires significant study and training; and provides at most a day or two of warning -not enough time for preventative action. In reality, most often, detection is not made until the WWTP begins bulking or foaming. The proposed diagnostic tools to be developed in this project will investigate molecular identification techniques to specifically target these bacteria and provide an analytical test that yields real time results at reasonable costs to help effectively operate and optimize processes in wastewater treatment plants.