After decades of supporting successful remediation projects, we know that cleanup using microorganisms is sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. However, one often-overlooked advantage is how effective microorganisms are at teamwork, just like us at Microbial Insights. Microbes have synergistic interactions within a community that offer importance for soil and plant health. When implementing a nature-based remediation solution, like phytoremediation, knowledge of the soil microbiome can play a key role in the success of the project. For example, microorganisms in the rhizosphere can stimulate root and plant growth, increase the plants’ tolerance to pollutants, and enhance nutrient uptake and soil quality.
Discover how two innovative, nature-powered projects are removing harmful contaminants and creating lasting ecological and community impact in the process.
Enhanced Hydrocarbon Remediation with Constructed Wetlands
Microbial Insights provides advanced microbial monitoring in support of a nature based produced water treatment strategy developed by a leading oil and gas company. This approach leverages the synergistic functions of plants and native microbial communities within constructed wetlands to achieve effective wastewater remediation, including mineral filtration, metal sequestration, and biodegradation of dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons.
Passive treatment systems such as constructed wetlands are increasingly recognized for industrial wastewater management due to their low energy demand, cost effectiveness, and minimal operational oversight. Through the application of Microbial Insights’ QuantArray®-BGC and QuantArray®-Petro assays, key biogeochemical processes, including nutrient cycling, redox dynamics, and petroleum biodegradation potential can be comprehensively assessed, providing critical insight into treatment performance from a microbial perspective.
Nature-Driven Degradation of Textile and Plastic Wastes
The Or Foundation, an environmental nonprofit, is leading a comprehensive effort to remediate the highly contaminated Korle Lagoon and its tributaries in Accra, Ghana through an integrated program of ecological monitoring, community engagement, and nature based remediation. The lagoon receives stormwater and municipal drainage from much of the city via the Odaw River system, which serves a catchment encompassing approximately 60% of Accra. As a result, the lagoon has accumulated extraordinary volumes of textile waste and microfibers associated with the global secondhand clothing trade, making it one of the most severely polluted urban water bodies worldwide.
The Foundation conducts extensive water and sediment sampling to quantify microfiber contamination and employs citizen science initiatives that engage local residents in monitoring and cleanup activities. Its remediation research focuses on biological and nature based solutions, including the integration of constructed wetlands with bioreactor systems enhanced by indigenous plastic degrading microbial communities. This combined phytoextraction/phytoremediation and bioremediation strategy promotes the breakdown of accumulated textile and plastic debris while simultaneously capturing heavy metals. In parallel, beach monitoring and waste removal campaigns reduce the re introduction of debris into coastal waters.
Through this coordinated approach of linking rigorous ecological data collection, biologically driven remediation processes, and community based stewardship, the Or Foundation seeks to restore the ecological function of the Korle Lagoon and ultimately return it to a state that supports safe recreation and sustainable local livelihoods.
Updated Guidance for Nature-Based Solutions
Phytoremediation has significant potential for sustainable, passive remediation but remains an underutilized remediation strategy in part due to limited awareness of new advancements. Dr. Sam Rosolina, our Vice President of Applied Innovation, is serving on the latest ITRC team dedicated to revising the Phytotechnology Guidance which focuses on techniques for harnessing phytodegradation, phytoextraction, and phytosequestration for environmental remediation purposes. The updated document will incorporate additional research and case studies that have taken place since the 2009 document was issued.
Interested in collaborating or learning more about how microbial data can be used to optimize phytoremediation projects? Please reach out to Microbial Insights today at 865-573-8188 or [email protected].
