CHARLEVOIX, MI, June 3, 2011 -- A recent Michigan State University study has found that Big Fish Environmental's wastewater treatment system generates Class A biosolids with E. coli and enterococci concentrations below detection limits.
Big Fish Environmental is a Michigan-based company that specializes in the design and construction of septage and high-strength wastewater receiving and treatment facilities throughout the United States.
Cultivation (cfu) and new molecular methods were used to track the fecal material through the process. Samples were processed for growth on standard culture for E. coli and enterococci. Extraction methods were also carried out from processed samples using Roche MagNa Pure LC instrument (Roche Applied Sciences, Indianapolis, Ind.), and qPCR analysis was carried out for E. coli and Enterococci (Srinivasan et al., 2011) and removals were 99.99% and greater.
After treatment in the Big Fish system, all of the biosolid samples had concentrations of cultivatable E.coli and enterococci below the detection limit, which is 0.33cfu/g. John Campbell, originator of Big Fish Environmental LLC, was pleased with the study's results. "This study confirms our own analyses and is an important result for us to share with the industry," he said.
The Michigan State study follows an endorsement Big Fish received in 2010 that was based on a 13-month verification test performed by NSF International under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ETV Program's Water Quality Protection Center. According to Tom Stevens, an NSF Water Quality Protection Center Manager, the Big Fish Environmental system "provides a viable technical solution to the pervasive problem of septage treatment at wastewater treatment plants. The Big Fish System demonstrated effective treatment of septage and high-strength wastewaters, making the effluent treatable at a wastewater treatment plant, and making beneficial and sustainable use of recovered biosolids."
Big Fish Environmental works in both the private and public sectors, including collaborative efforts, and its turnkey system is tailored to fit a wide variety of needs, from a small facility serving a private septage hauler to a municipality handling septage and biosolids.
Started in 2004, Big Fish Environmental is recognized as the only facility in Michigan to produce an Exceptional Quality Class A Biosolid and redistribute it as a beneficial fertilizer. For more information, visit http://bigfishenvironmental.com/
Srinivasan, S.; Aslan, A.; Xagoraraki, I., Alocilja, E. C. and J. B Rose 2011. Escherichia coli, Enterococci, and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron qPCR signals through wastewater and septage treatment, Water Research, In press (pg 1-12)###
