Bioremediation

• Bioremediation - The use of biological remedies to clean up contamination. Waste management technique involving the use of organisms.
• Possible sources of contamination are Industrial spills and leaks, Surface impoundments, Landfill, Storage tanks and pipes, Burial areas and dumps, and Injection wells.
• The two types of Bioremediation are In Situ and Ex Situ
• In Situ - at the site, treatment of contaminated material in place.
• Ex Situ - away from the site, techniques involving physical removal of contaminated material
• Biostimulation - method in which bacteria are motivated to start the process of bioremediation.
• Bioaugmentation - Microorganisms that clean up a specific contaminant.
• Intrinsic - used in soil and water. Natural attenuation.
• Advantages - natural process, complete destruction of wide variety of contaminants, complete destruction of target pollutants, can be carried Ex Situ, less expensive than other technology
• Disadvantages - limited to compounds which are biodegradable, some concern that it may be more toxic than parent compound, often highly specific, takes longer time, difficult to deduce from small studies to full-scale field.
• Phytoremediation - use of plants to remove contaminants from soil and water