ABSTRACT

Commercial bacterial supplements have been promoted as an effective and economical way to enhance biological treatment processes. Addition of these specialized bacteria to the naturally occurring population of a bioreactor for enhancement of population diversity and/or activity is known as bioaugmentation. Bioaugmentation can be effective in increasing biodegradation by 1) adding bacteria with enzymatic systems capable of biodegrading previously persistent organics, and/or 2) adding bacteria with higher metabolic rates. In particular, bacterial supplements are often promoted as being capable of rapidly initiating biodegradation of many xenobiotic compounds including aromatics (such as phenol and chlorinated phenols). However, past studies have shown that lengthy acclimation periods may be required from these specialized bacteria prior to target compound biodegradation 1 , 2 , 3 .