MIC 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 38: Bioremediation, Symbiosis, Tangled
Document Summary
26. 1 water pollution: unpolluted and polluted water contain different microbial populations, unpolluted water contains low organic nutrients, thus low numbers of microbes, water can be polluted with sewage agricultural runoff industrial pollutants. 26. 2 the treatment of water and sewage: water purification is a three-step process. Sedimentation removes large objects and particles through flocculation. Filtration removes microorganisms by passing water through a layer of sand gravel accumulated microbe biofilm: chlorination involves adding chlorine gas to kill remaining organisms. Sewage treatment can be a multistep process: domestic human waste usually empties into a cesspool or septic tank. Sewage (and livestock waste) can be collected in oxidation lagoons: natural digestion occurs. 26. 3 the cycles of elements in the environment: the carbon cycle is influenced by microorganisms, the sulfur cycle recycles sulfate molecules, microbes break down proteins and amino acids to yield compounds like hydrogen sulfide. Several bacterial genera transform hydrogen sulfide to sulfate.
