Primary Author / Conference Presenter:
Kerry Sublette
President
Sublette Consulting
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA

Co-Authors:
Katherine Clark, Dora Taggart, Anita Biemacki, Brett R. Baldwin | Microbial Insights, Inc., Knoxville, TN

Biofilms characteristic of aquifer conditions can be rapidly and efficiently collected using in situ microcosms or “bio-traps” containing Bio-Sep® beads. Bio-Sep® beads are 3-4 mm in diameter and composed of 25% aramid polymer and 75% powdered activated carbon (PAC). When bio-traps are deployed in groundwater, indigenous bacteria enter through the outside membrane and migrate into the porous internal matrix. Microbes then attach to this internal structure and reproduces to form biofilms. In this manner, microbes can be concentrated for analysis despite their relatively low density of microbes in the sampled groundwater.

The use of bio-traps to characterize active microbial communities under conditions of reductive dechlorination, evaluate of remediation amendments, and test the viability and efficacy of bioaugmentation cultures will be described with case studies.