SBIR Phase I: Early detection of Bulking and Foaming in Wastewater Treatment using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostics

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种低成本的诊断方法，通过向工厂操作员提供早期预警，从而防止废水处理厂（WTTP）的膨胀和起泡事件。活性污泥法是一种处理污水的现代方法，它是在20世纪初发展起来的，目的是防止疾病的传播，因为工业革命期间人们搬到城市，水传播的疾病导致了许多人死亡。活性污泥依靠生物过程去除废水中的悬浮固体进行处理，使清洁水或废水返回地表水供人类和环境使用。当某些罪魁祸首细菌的生长与总细菌的比例不成比例时，就会产生膨胀或起泡，导致原污水随出水一起排放。一个极端事件可能会给污水处理厂带来数十万美元的合规罚款、工厂或设备的损坏以及运营成本。如果海滩或码头在赛事期间关闭，则会造成更大的经济损失。早期发现膨胀和起泡事件将为污水处理厂更有效地运行提供有力的工具。这个第一阶段研究项目的目标是开发一种使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）技术的分子测试，该技术可以由污水处理厂（WTTP）人员在现场进行，以提供膨胀和起泡事件的早期预警——最多提前三周预警，使污水处理厂运营商能够采取预防措施，避免经济成本、能源生产损失和对公众健康的威胁。膨胀和起泡是由28种罪魁祸首细菌引起的。目前，该行业依赖于显微镜，这是主观的；需要大量的学习和训练；并提供最多一到两天的警告，这不足以采取预防措施。在现实中，大多数情况下，直到污水处理厂开始膨胀或起泡才进行检测。本项目拟开发的诊断工具将研究分子鉴定技术，专门针对这些细菌，并提供一种分析测试，以合理的成本产生实时结果，帮助有效地操作和优化废水处理厂的工艺。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the development of a low-cost diagnostic to end bulking and foaming events in wastewater treatment plants (WTTP) by providing early warning to plant operators allowing preventative action. The activated sludge process the modern method to treat sewerage was developed in the early 1900 to prevent the spread of disease as people moved to the cities during the industrial revolution and waterborne disease caused many deaths. Activated sludge relies on a biological process to remove suspended solids from wastewater for treatment so clean water or effluent is returned to surface waters for human and environmental use. Bulking or foaming occurs when certain culprit bacteria grow out of proportion to total bacteria, resulting in raw sewerage being discharged with the effluent. An extreme event can cost a wastewater treatment plant several hundreds of thousands of dollars in compliance fines, damage to plant or equipment, and operational costs. Broader economic costs occur if beaches or marinas are closed during an event. Early detection of bulking and foaming events will provide for powerful tools to facilitate more effective operation of wastewater treatment plants. The objective of this Phase 1 research project is to develop a molecular test using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques that can be done on site by wastewater treatment plant (WTTP) personnel to provide early warning of bulking and foaming events - up to three weeks advance warning allowing WWTP operators to take preventative action to avoid economic costs, loss of energy production and threats to public health. Bulking and foaming is caused by 28 culprit bacteria. Currently the industry relies on microscopy which is subjective; requires significant study and training; and provides at most a day or two of warning -not enough time for preventative action. In reality, most often, detection is not made until the WWTP begins bulking or foaming. The proposed diagnostic tools to be developed in this project will investigate molecular identification techniques to specifically target these bacteria and provide an analytical test that yields real time results at reasonable costs to help effectively operate and optimize processes in wastewater treatment plants.