Hamid Boraziani and Susan Diehl, Senior Research Assistant David Strobel and others try to find the species of bacteria or fungus which show promise in the digestion of a pollutant material or materials. But the fungus Cladosporium is effective only on the former. Determining how best to use the organism in the cleanup is as much a problem as identifying it. Stirring and aeration mix the water thoroughly and the digestion process is allowed to work. The contents of the bioreactors flow into an enormous bowl-shaped vessel for settling of the bacteria, which can then be reused.
Treated water flows to injection wells to be forced back underground.
The Wiggins site is one of several around the state where field work in bioremediation is carried out and studied. The work also goes on at sites in two other states. Among the other bioremediation systems studied or on which studies are underway at the FPL are bioventing and biofiltration. In bioventing, manifolds buried in the soil force air through soil that has been mixed with a fungus. Conclusive results are not yet available, but this procedure has been found ineffective with some soils.