“Probiotic” use of microbes for farm and garden to mimic and supplement Mother Nature

In conjunction with the MOSES Organic Farming Conference 2016, we wanted to share some notes and ideas for you about using microbes on the farm.

Even when a grower or farmer already is taking a deeply holistic and organic approach, we have found there usually are ways that supplementing with beneficial microbes can give incremental tangible benefits and incremental profits.

We like it when we can help you be better prepared for issues that are likely or that you expect, as well as the issues that pop-up unexpectedly, in terms of microbiomes getting a little out of balance. That way, you could handle those issues with more success and ease. And we can do this by mimicking what Mother Nature eventually would do if left to her own devices.

With this approach, we believe that you can realize reduction in odors, better overall animal health, less animal mortality, and a higher quality environment (soil, water and air)… all indicators of a better-balanced local ecosystem. In the process, our intent for you is to also realize the additional tangible benefits of less maintenance costs, increased production and vitality, less time spent on issues and more time for beneficial tasks.

For the Animals:

Chick brooder house

Baby chicks can be highly sensitive to improved habitat, and thrive accordingly. Ammonia odors can be dramatically reduced, mortality rates significantly reduced, and the speed and weight of grow-out significantly improved.Before receiving the baby chicks, the archaea microbes can be added to the litter throughout the brooder house. Or if you already have the chicks and notice ammonia odors, temporarily remove the chicks from the area for easiest application or boosting prior treatments. Because baby chicks are less tolerant of imbalances in their environment, we know the microbes can be exceptionally helpful in this area of operation. 

    Mortality rates decreased by ~50% in this side-by-side controlled experiment case study: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/2015/12/high-ammonia-levels-poor-air-quality.html

Hens/Roosters/Turkeys overwintering

Before placing the poultry inside for the winter months, the archaea microbes can be added to the litter to prevent ecosystem imbalance/overload, as indicated by the subsequent odors. Microbes could then be added as needed if odors subsequently build up. You would be looking for a decrease in ammonia odor and the need for less frequent carbon lay downs. Also, over time, there can be collateral benefits from the added beneficial microbes, such as an improvement in egg production, less picking on each other, general overall health improvement, etc.

Ducks & Geese overwintering
Since ducks and geese don’t scratch in the same way as chickens, there is less aeration and their area gets mucky. The ‘bad’ microbes start to win out and the odors and ammonia build up. Our microbes can be added to regularly boost beneficial microbial activity during this time.

Pig sheds

The toilet area for the pigs can be treated directly 2-3x per week. The microbes will significantly boost the processing of the waste and ammonia, and a small enough amount can make a noticeable improvement in the odors such that it can be worth it for pigs and people both.  The financial benefit is admittedly more difficult to measure here, and the cost of the microbes vs. measurable benefits to the pigs’ health and quality of environment would have to be determined.

Around the farm:

Wastewater Lagoons

Wastewater and effluent lagoons can be inoculated with the microbes to boost odor elimination and break-down of organics, especially during times/seasons of high use or in the summer when higher temperatures can increase pathogenic microbial activity. The archaea will also take up residence in the slime and muck within the hosing and pump equipment, helping to keep it clear and odor-free. 

Soil remediation, restoration and regeneration

Applications can vary widely here, given the variables. We are happy to discuss with you in more detail, to see if the microbes are an appropriate tool in your situation, and if so to tailor the dosages to the context.

Offal compost

The microbes could help prevent odors here if needed, such as when visitors are expected on your property.

Fuel spills and drips

We recommend keeping small 6 oz shaker bottles of the microbes on hand for diesel, gasoline and other fuel and lubricating oil drips and spills from equipment and around pump/fill stations.

Septic tanks

Our microbe consortium thrives in the challenging and harsh conditions of septic systems. Simply flush a cup down the toilet once every 3 or 4 months (or divide it among multiple toilets that feed to the same septic system). Some powder may stick to the bowl, but should get carried away by the next couple of flushes; or if you want to avoid powder sticking to the bowl, you can mix the microbes in a jar of water before flushing them.

Kitchen drains and drain lines

The microbes love FOG (fats, oils & greases) and you can rinse a teaspoon down the kitchen sink twice a month to colonize and help clean out drain lines.

Water:

Water troughs in coops (or any water troughs that have similar issues)

If green algae is forming, or a white slimy-type substance that builds up in the watering troughs in the coops, the microbes can be added to prevent this build-up – directly to the troughs, and/or into the gravity feed buckets as long as the nipples aren’t clogged by the carrier in our formula. 

Ponds, Lakes or Irrigation Lagoons

Cloudy water is often a sign of nutrient overload and can be a pre-cursor of algae. Our microbe formula rebalances the excess nutrient load toward the goal of preventing toxic algae blooms.

Streams or Rivers

Do you ever have regulatory issues from manure run-off? If so, the microbes could be used to decrease organic content and E. coli and fecal coliform counts in surface waters.

Our blog has a brief write-up of a pertinent case study where a zoo worked with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to address and remediate an E. coli and fecal coliform runoff problem easily and cost-effectively: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/2015/12/e.html  

Summary

Basically, there are a couple of primary categories where we have demonstrated results with our archaea-based consortium of beneficial microbes:

a) As a preventative to boost beneficial microbial activity during times when imbalance is likely or predicted.

Examples:

1.      in the brooder house litter just prior to new chicks being brought in

2.      applying microbes preventively in hoop house environments at the beginning of the winter months when the poultry and/or animals will be kept together in close quarters

3.      in the wastewater lagoon during processing when it’s receiving larger quantities of organic influent

b) As a treatment to boost beneficial microbial activity when issues pop-up as a result of an unpredicted imbalance. The microbes can be applied as a treatment to areas that develop an issue, often evidenced by odor build-up. By using odors as a gauge for an ecosystem out of balance, the microbes can be applied to restore balance and provide the animals with a healthier, higher quality environment.

There are many variations of beneficial microbe products on the market but none have the hearty, broad-spectrum, thorough, and effective activity that Akaya’s archaea consortium has. With more than 100 species, including aerobic, anaerobic and facultative anaerobic species, it’s been studied (including two peer-reviewed studies), it’s been tested, it’s been used for decades in all sorts of environments, and it's been approved for use; it’s listed on the EPA’s National Contingency Plan Product Schedule (NCPPS) for bioremediation products - only 12 products have been approved for that list. 

Archaea were thought to be bacteria by scientists until the late 1970's, when it was discovered that there are significant differences, and thus an entire new Third Domain was formed. Compared to bacteria, enzymes and fungi, which are the much more common bioremediation tools, the archaea are much more broad-spectrum and hardy. Archaea tolerate a wide range of temperature, pH, salinity and oxygenation.

All of Akaya’s products are safe for use around your co-workers, flora and fauna, aquatic and on land. They are non-pathogenic, non-GMO,  and 100% naturally cultivated. And it’s proven. We know it works.

Nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.  He's also a treatment-free bee steward and a micro-farmer if you count the raised beds and pastured girls.

                                                                                       
Keys: #MOSES2016, Water Quality, Wastewater Treatment, Livestock, Agriculture, Equestrian, Poultry, #Riverkeeper, #Waterkeeper, #Baykeeper, #Waterquality, #Cleanwater, Waste water

'Meet the Microbes' Tour: Akaya Virginia & Pennsylvania visits

We’ll be talking microbes with some farmers and wastewater treatment folks next week— the week of February 8 — in the Virginia and Pennsylvania area. Maybe oil spill response folks, too, if we can connect on any of the recent spills that have occurred.

• Have you had odors that were a nuisance or a health risk and wished there was a more natural solution that didn’t cause unintended consequences like some of the expensive chemical approaches?
• Are you a sewer treatment plant operator or manager of industrial waste for a plant and who has had FOG issues, out-of-range wastewater effluent or excessive sludge disposal costs in the past? Or had the nagging concern that there were residuals remaining and think there’s more you could have done?
• Are you a safety/compliance manager at a fracking, drilling or petroleum company and want to know more about the least expensive and thorough clean-up in situ of spills small or large?
• Are you a Riverkeeper or other environmental steward interested in learning more about the possibilities of using natural, EPA-approved bioaugementation to more deeply and completely remediate persistent pollution in hard-to-treat areas or ecologically sensitive wetlands without harming flora or fauna, aquatic or on land?
• Are you a farmer, animal sanctuary steward or equestrian center interested in how the microbes can inexpensively improve animal welfare and deliver a net-cost-savings at the same time?
• Or maybe you are simply intrigued and curious about how microbes work, or how a more biological approach could work for your business?

In any case, we’d love to talk with you about how we can solve your issues and make your operations more efficient, healthier and cheaper. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to wrap their heads around the science behind a bunch of microbes being a powerful keystone of environmental management. How can these incredibly tiny creatures that we can’t even see without powerful microscopes have so many capabilities of addressing the messes we make?

We’ve learned it’s a bit of a leap to understand how microbes can fit into one’s toolkit of approaches – which is understandable since emphasis over the past decades has been on chemical and mechanical solutions. But there is now a groundswell of research focused on biological approaches, as well as enough practical field applications that we and others have proven that it works. Our microbe consortium can either replace chemical and mechanical approaches completely, or work with them to enhance likelihood of a complete recovery, and restoration to a more sustainable balanced condition. 

Clearly, in some cases microbes are not appropriate to use at all, and we will be quick to tell you that if that’s what we think. But whatever the case, our goal is to let everyone know there is a now a more complete set of choices available to meet your goals – more tools in the toolkit than most people know. Our expertise is focused on getting to the root of a solution for the benefit of your business and your daily work, as well as the greater community and environment.

Sometimes it’s easier to discuss it in person, over a coffee, with some sketches and conversation rooted in the details of your unique issues. As we like to say, nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense. So contact us and let us know if you’d like to talk microbes and solutions?

That’s us applying microbes to difficult-to-treat marsh grass and mudflats after some of the heavy oil was removed from the adjacent river and mudflats by mechanical means. A perfect example of how we work with multiple methods to enable the most thorough and complete recovery.

www.akaya.green

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkayaGreen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akayaenvironmental 

Case study blog: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/

Example verticals where our microbes have been used successfully:

• Sewage treatment (several different areas of use within this, including lift stations, collection systems, plant process and efficiency improvements, and crisis solutions such as ammonia spikes, FOG caps and fracking fluid contamination)
• Food processing waste treatment and wastewater treatment
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Petroleum spill cleanup
• Soil and water environmental remediation and cleanup
• Agricultural amendments for improving soil quality and fertility
• Marine shipping oily-bilge water and ballast water
• Septic systems and dry wells
• Sewage holding tanks on ships, boats and recreational vehicles
• Agricultural runoff remediation (excess nitrogen, phosphorous, etc)
• Algae prevention in lakes, fish ponds and irrigation lagoons and golf courses
• Farms, zoos, and equestrian centers for animal habitats and bedding, effluent ponds and waste treatment

Nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense.

Keys: Wastewater Treatment Plant, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Sewage Treatment Plant, Agriculture, Wastewater Lagoons, Waste Lagoons, Sewer Collection Systems, Wastewater Collection Infrastructure, Utility Infrastructure, Biological Wastewater Treatment Products, Beneficial Microorganisms, Beneficial Microbes, COD Reduction, Wastewater Treatment Odors, Bioaugmentation

Even three WWII destroyer engines couldn’t keep up with six inches of FOG accumulating every few days

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) Quincy used to have a pump station wet well that would accumulate
6-inches or more of grease every few days. The lift station was an open pit, running three WWII destroyer engines. The F.O.G. (fats, oil and grease) cap would become several feet thick, requiring physical removal by hand shoveling into vacuum hoses and high pressure jetting. In just four weeks of starting to use an archaea-based consortium of beneficial microbes, the insoluble FOG was converted to water soluble fatty acids, and the entire wet well ended up clean, including grates, piping, bricks and target. The pit was never cleaned again until a new station was built at Quincy Point, making the old one obsolete and decommissioned.

FOG and odor control, and significant net savings and operating efficiencies gained by using archaea beneficial microbes
In another town nearby to Quincy, there are three different lift stations that used to require frequent expensive and laborious pump-outs and clean-outs, with FOG caps disrupting and disabling float switches and pumps, and solids caps accumulating on the surface. Since they started using the archaea-based consortium about 3 years ago, they have saved 7 or 8 pump-outs per year at each of 3 different wet wells. Weekly maintenance is as simple as tossing a scoop of the beneficial microbes into each lift station.

Wastewater treatment success depends on carefully managed microbial communities
Modern secondary treatment plants are designed, engineered and operated to provide an enhanced microbiome for naturally occurring microbes to thrive in their role of breaking down waste. All too often though, we overlook the opportunity to augment and intensify that microbial efficiency by adding carefully selected supplemental microbes. Like probiotics for the wastewater treatment system, they can eliminate F.O.G., save significant maintenance and electrical utility costs, more easily enable exceeding effluent standards, and significantly reduce odors in the process.

Why specifically Archaea?
Archaea are a type of microbe much more rugged and hardy than bacteria or enzymes, and have an exquisite ability to tackle a broad spectrum of contaminants in an ample variety of operating environments. They thrive in a wider range of temperature, pH and salinity and are especially suited to extreme environments. This makes them particularly appropriate to the harsh conditions of sewer treatment operations. They are the oldest microbes and have no known pathogenic species.

Where do I find Archaea-based microbes for use in sewage treatment?
Boston-based Akaya offers a proprietary archaea-based consortium that has been used for more than 25-years, is 100% non-GMO, and is safe for use around people, plants and animals. The formula can be used on open water and on land. With a 5-year shelf-life, it’s a powerful tool to have on hand for routine maintenance and to optimize operating levels, as well as to enable operators to respond to spills and illegal dumping events (e.g. frack fluid, brine, cooking oils).

The product cost is modest, and almost all of the operators who have tried it experienced a significant net savings as a result. Call Akaya today and see the results yourself.


- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.

#wastewatertreatment #sewage #watertreatment 

#sewagetreatmentplant#sewagetreatmentequipment 

#wastewatertreatment #waterquality #infrastructure 

Savings on sludge hauling and electrical consumption, while also getting rid of odors

We wanted to share case study notes on a wastewater treatment plant where their throughput flow remained relatively constant for two years during which they used our archaea-based consortium and measured a 25% decrease in sludge. Just the savings from the decrease in hauling costs for the sludge waste far exceeded the cost of the beneficial microbe product. The time and effort involved in the product application process was minimal, and the side benefit they realized was reducing the odors at the plant to almost nothing, which delighted their residential neighbors as well. They also achieved higher levels of oxygen that allowed for reduced run time on the rotors, saving money on electrical consumption.

Why specifically Archaea?
Archaea have an exquisite ability to remediate a broad spectrum of contaminants. They are the oldest and hardiest microbes and have no known human pathogenic species. The archaea are safe for use around people, plants and animals, aquatic and on land.  Unlike the more common bacteria or enzyme-based agents, archaea can tackle tough remediation applications in more challenging and extreme conditions. With a five-year shelf life, Akaya’s archaea-based formula is a powerful tool to have on hand for routine maintenance and to optimize operating levels, as well as to enable operators to respond to dumping events and spills.

Modern secondary treatment plants are designed, engineered and operated to provide an enhanced microbiome for naturally occurring microbes to thrive in their role of breaking down waste. All too often, though, we overlook the opportunity to augment and intensify that microbial efficiency by adding carefully selected supplemental microbes. Like probiotics for the wastewater treatment system, they can eliminate FOG, save significant maintenance and electrical utility costs, more easily enable exceeding effluent standards, and significantly reduce odors in the process.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.

#wastewatertreatment #sewage #watertreatment 

#sewagetreatmentplant #sewagetreatmentequipment 

#wastewatertreatment #waterquality #infrastructure 

Cost savings and regulatory compliance attained, plus gaining a 4-year extension before infrastructure upgrades were required

We wanted to share case study notes on a community that had a small activated sludge facility which happened to be located at one of the highest points in the topography, entailing a number of lift stations in the infrastructure to pump sewerage to the plant. The lift stations were perennially plagued by FOG (fats, oils, grease) and had mechanical malfunctions, severe odor problems, and accelerated corrosion issues as a direct result. The wet wells also experienced frequent overflow events (SSOs), making them extremely high-maintenance and costly. Hydrogen sulfide levels were leading to destruction of pump controls, metal parts, ladders, covers and concrete structures. The grease reaching the treatment plant caused excessive floatation in the clarifier and high BOD effluent, and effluent standards routinely were not meeting state discharge requirements. Engineers had been treating with ferric chloride and peroxide without success.

By treating lift stations weekly with just 4 ounces of our archaea-based formula, fats, oils and grease build up was eliminated and odor significantly reduced. Excess hydrogen sulfide generation ceased, the influent BOD levels dropped from 250 to 125, the clarifier began to function properly, and the state effluent standards were achieved. In subsequent years with ongoing maintenance use of the microbes, BOD levels in influent dropped to just 5, with hydrogen sulphide and ammonia eliminated, and lift station maintenance drastically reduced. Despite a more than 6-fold increase during the period of use of the microbes, which also was a 6-fold increase in gpd volume beyond its designed capacity, the plant continued to operate smoothly and meet state effluent standards. The timeline on building a new treatment plant was able to be delayed by four additional years because of the greater efficiencies attained.

Why specifically Archaea?
Modern secondary treatment plants are designed, engineered and operated to provide an enhanced microbiome for naturally occurring microbes to thrive in their role of breaking down waste. All too often, though, we overlook the opportunity to augment and intensify that microbial efficiency by adding carefully selected supplemental microbes.

Like probiotics for the wastewater treatment system, they can eliminate F.O.G., save significant maintenance and electrical utility costs, substantially decrease corrosion rates, more easily enable exceeding effluent standards, and significantly reduce odors in the process.

Archaea have an exquisite ability to remediate a broad spectrum of contaminants. They are the oldest and hardiest microbes and have no known human pathogenic species. The archaea are safe for use around people, plants and animals, aquatic and on land.  Unlike the more common bacteria or enzyme-based agents, archaea can tackle tough remediation applications in more challenging and extreme conditions. 

With a five-year shelf life, the archaea-based formula is a powerful tool to have on hand for routine maintenance and to optimize operating levels, as well as to enable operators to respond to dumping events and spills.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.

#sewagetreatmentplant #wastewatertreatment #wastewater
#wastewatertreatment #watertreatment #sewagetreatmentequipment
#waterquality #infrastructure