FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ARCHAEA
Q: What is Archaea?
A: Archaea is the name given to a Kingdom of organisms. There are many species of organisms within this Kingdom. Archaea is one of the oldest life forms on Earth, and is estimated to be 35% or more of the Earth’s biomass. Each species functions optimally at varying levels of pH and temperature, and are specific as to what purpose they serve.
There are three general types of Archaea: thermophiles that are found in geysers, hot springs, and thermal vents, halophiles that live in high salt conditions and methanogens that live in glaciers, rumen, peat, and other areas of degradation and regeneration.
Q: What pH range can Archaea withstand?
A: Archaea can be effective in pH as low as –0.07 or as high as 13.
Q: What is Archaea role in waste breakdown?
A: In a recent symposium at the Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, the following statement appears (Sowers, 1995):
“In aquatic sediments, bogs, marshes, tundra, heartwood of infected trees and anaerobic digesters, Archaea are the terminal members of a three-member consortium of microorganisms. In this consortium, Archaea convert products of the first two members, the fermentative and fatty-acid-oxidizing bacteria to methane and carbon dioxide.”
Broken down, this quote says:
- Archaea are a necessary
third group of organisms in waste digestion.
- They are the last
group to metabolize waste.
- Their role is to convert the end products of other bacteria into methane and/or carbon dioxide.
When there is a deficiency of Archaea, those end products accumulate. The end products include ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, propionic, butyric and other malodorous acids.
Another way to understand the role Archaea play in the breakdown of waste is by the following two-step explanation:
Step 1: As waste enters a lagoon from an industrial or agricultural operation, bacteria break it down to acids, alcohols, ammonia and insoluble sludge. These breakdown products poison bacteria and slow/stop them. The sludge, alcohols, acids, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, etc. produced by bacteria are the end products remaining in the lagoon unless Step 2 occurs.
Step 2: The unique microbes found within the Kingdom Archaea breakdown the sludge and other poisonous materials to water, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen gas. Pathogens are reduced and water-holding capacity is increased. The end products of Step 2 are not toxic and waste breakdown proceeds to completion.
Q: Where were Archaea discovered?
A: In 1977 at the University of Illinois by Dr. C. R. Woese.
Q: Why are we just now hearing about Archaea?
A: Dr. Woese constructed an enclosed vacuum hood. The hood created one of the most oxygen free environments in history. In this anaerobic zone, the Archaea grew and were discovered. Other labs could not study Archaea until they achieved the same oxygen free atmosphere, and this took considerable time.
Q: Are there any long or short-term threats to the health of animals or plants that come in contact with Archaea?
A: There are no long-term threats to animals or plants coming into contact with Archaea. Short-term, the patented dry product does contain a fine powder that could cause irritation to the eyes and sinuses if either not handled in a well-ventilated area or some type of respirator were used. An MSDS sheet has been created to address any health concerns associated with the product.
Q: How is Archaea different from bacteria products?
A: Archaea have advanced gene control similar to that of mammals, whereas bacteria have a very simplistic gene control. The outer wall of Archaea is composed of a protein-glycerol-protein, unlike bacteria, which has a protein-lipid-protein outer wall. The glycerol found in the outer membrane allows the Archaea much more protection than that of an outer membrane composed of a lipid. Archaea can withstand large variations in the environment, unlike bacteria, which are susceptible to small environmental changes. Finally, waste products do not inhibit the growth of Archaea as they do bacteria.
Q: How does Archaea compare to enzyme products?
A: Enzyme products used to increase the rate and extent of wastewater breakdown have generally failed. Enzymes are very specific; they act on a specific bond in a specific molecule or class of molecules. Wastewater has innumerable variations of molecules and bonds. As yet, no unique enzyme target has been identified to make enzyme treatment effective.
Q: How does Archaea compare to aeration?
A: Wastewater is made up of fine slurry particles. They are a variety of sizes and suspended in the lagoon liquid. No matter how heavily one aerates, scientific and engineering literature shows that oxygen can only penetrate the first one-thousandth of an inch of the outside of the particle.
Thus, the majority of the particle remains oxygen devoid, or anaerobic. Ideally, a microbe that could get into the core of the particle and break it down without oxygen would be ideal.
Q: Will Archaea reduce Ammonia levels?
A: Ammonia removal is accomplished by two mechanisms.
- Incorporation of
ammonia into amine groups on larger compounds – amino acids
and proteins primarily.
- Enhanced nitrification, denitrification.
Archaea are very small organisms. As such, a liter of fluid will hold a much
larger number of Archaea than it would larger microbes. This means more protein and amino acids per liter. And thus one of the ammonia elimination efficiencies Archaea brings to the system.
Nitrate reduction to nitrite is not particularly efficient. Oxygen is a preferred electron donor. However, at low dissolved oxygen levels nitrate reduction takes place. Denitrification is completed by species of Paracoccus, Pseudomonas and Rhodobacter. They reduce nitrite all the way to N2.
The intermediaries of this reduction are toxic to these species. The reaction occurs on the surface of an external membrane. Archaea can consume a portion of these poisonous materials and allow the reaction to proceed to completion at a greater rate. Archaea, it is hypothesized, can also fix these intermediates and keep them in the natural cycle.
Q: Will Archaea reduce hydrogen sulfide levels?
A: Archaea metabolism is sulfur dependent. Many Archaea are chemotrophs. They use reduced sulfur as an energy source and build their cell material from CO2. Others incorporate large amounts of sulfur into cysteine and other sulfur containing amino acids. Sulfur is also a co-factor in enzymatic reactions.
There is laboratory work showing Archaea are capable of combining a number of small organic acids (lactic, malic, pyruvic, and butyric) with oxidized sulfur to produce reduced sulfur-carbon compounds and acetate.
Q: Will Archaea aid in the reduction of pathogen counts?
A: One of the constant findings in 15 years of commercial use is a dramatic reduction of coliforms and pathogens when Archaea is used in any application. Coliform counts are usually in double digits and normally less than 50.
Q: Will Archaea reduce the phosphorus level?
A: Archaea often store potassium, sodium, phosphate and other minerals. They have adapted their enzymes so that they often use sodium as a co-factor; rather than the “trace” minerals used by most bacteria.
In addition, Archaea cells are usually 1/10th or less the radius (“r”) of most bacteria cells. The volume of a cell is calculated on “r3.” If you cube 1/10th, you get 1/1000th. Therefore, in a given volume of liquid, one can get a thousand-fold more Archaea cells than bacteria cells.
As a result, independent labs have reported 1014 or more Archaea cells per milliliter.
More Archaea cells per milliliter and more phosphorus in each cell can result in more phosphorus being removed from wastewater.
Q: Where does the phosphorus go?
A: Phosphate remains in the Archaea cells when lagoon water is sprayed onto fields. In the soil, along with a variety of other microorganisms, Archaea can attach to the surface of plant root hairs. This can occur in soils with varying amounts of drainage and oxygen.
Archaea and other microbes have been shown to occur on root hairs as a part of a bio-film of microorganisms. The bio-film can contribute nutrients to the plant. Customers have found that the incorporation of Archaea processed water improves nutrient delivery to crop plants.
Q: What is the definition of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)?
A: The chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the amount of oxygen required to degrade the organic compounds of wastewater. The bigger the COD value of wastewater, the more oxygen the discharges demand from water bodies.
Q: What effect will Archaea have on COD?
A: We are the only product that completely eliminates COD. The other technologies use a lot of oxygen that converts the COD to smaller molecules and then oxidizes them. Consequently, you end up with small, oxidized molecules.
Archaea converts COD to water, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane. The portion that goes to methane does not require oxygen; therefore less total oxygen is needed. There is no residual COD in any of the molecules.
Q: What is the explanation of BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand)?
A: The biological oxygen demand (BOD) is a measure of the oxygen used by microorganisms to decompose waste. If there is a large quantity of waste in the water supply, there will also be a lot of bacteria present working to decompose this waste. In this case, the demand for oxygen will be high (due to all the bacteria) so the BOD will be high. As the waste is consumed or dispersed through the water, BOD levels will begin to decline.
Nitrates and phosphates in a body of water can contribute to high BOD levels. Nitrates and phosphates are plant nutrients and can cause plant life and algae to grow quickly. When plants grow quickly, they in turn die quickly. This contributes to the organic waste in the water, which is then decomposed by bacteria. This results in a high BOD level. When BOD levels are high, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels decrease because the bacteria are consuming the oxygen that is available in the water. Since less dissolved oxygen is available in the water, fish and other aquatic organisms may not survive.
Q: What effect will Archaea have on BOD?
A: We are the only product that completely eliminates BOD. The other technologies use a lot of oxygen that converts the BOD to smaller molecules and then oxidizes them. Consequently, you end up with small, oxidized molecules.
Archaea converts BOD to water, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane. The portion that goes to methane does not require oxygen; therefore less total oxygen is needed. There is no residual BOD in any of the molecules.
Q: How is Archaea applied to the lagoon?
A: Depending upon the size of the application, vertical bulk storage tanks ranging from 65 gallons to 300 gallons and up will be used. Applications sometimes require multiple tanks. The tanks are colored to reflect 409nm light in order to inhibit the growth of algae within the tanks. They are connected to a potable water source, and emitters within the units control flow rates.
A pre-determined amount of Archaea is introduced to the bottom of the tank to generate anaerobic material. Another pre-determined aliquot is suspended at the top of the unit to generate aerobic material. At a steady state, there will be a pre determined amount of anaerobic substrate and aerobic substrate. There may be more at start-up to facilitate needed activity.
As the potable water enters the tank through the emitters, the water comes in contact with the Archaea substrate. The water encourages its growth, and as the tank fills, the water carrying the microbes exits the tank by gravity through a bulkhead. The bulkhead is fitted with PVC piping that runs from the tank to the body of water being treated.
Q: Does the water supply to the Archaea generating tank need to be potable?
A: Yes. The addition of non-potable water to the Archaea generating tanks would encourage the growth of unwanted bacteria.
Q: How often does the Archaea need to be replaced?
A: The aerobic substrate will be replaced on demand and will be monitored by an Archaea engineer.
Q: Does the Archaea generating tank need electricity?
A: The tank only requires electricity if a heating unit is needed for adverse weather conditions, or controlled pre measured dosing is required. The heating units are designed to turn on at 40 degrees F (4.5 OC) and turn off at 70 degrees F (21OC).
Q: How do I know if the Archaea is doing its job?
A: Success is gauged on both qualitative and quantitative results. Qualitative results include items such as: physically measuring reductions in sludge, physical characteristics of the sludge, activity on the surface of the lagoon (eruptions, bubbling and foam), odor reduction, and changes in water clarity. The quantitative results are based upon laboratory analysis, and depending upon the type of application, the tests conducted vary. Laboratory testing is normally conducted on a quarterly basis.
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