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Environmental Microbiome Analysis and Manipulation

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Women in Water Quality

Part of the book series: Women in Engineering and Science ((WES))

Abstract

Bioremediation is a sustainable environmental treatment technology that harnesses the natural metabolic activities of living organisms to remove contaminants within soil, sediment, and water environments. Bioremediation is generally accepted as being a more cost-effective and sustainable remediation strategy when compared to chemical-based or pump-and-treat systems. Bioremediation treatment strategies are traditionally categorized as either biostimulation or bioaugmentation. Biostimulation involves the stimulation of indigenous microorganisms that are capable of degrading contaminants of interest. This treatment approach relies on manipulating site conditions to promote the activity and/or proliferation of microorganisms that are known to metabolize target contaminants of concern in order to overcome rate-limiting metabolic processes. In general, biostimulation involves oxidation-reduction reactions wherein either an electron acceptor (e.g., O2, Fe3+, or SO42−) is added to promote oxidative reduction of a contaminant or an electron donor (e.g., organic substrate) is added to reduce oxidized pollutants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pratt School of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Courtney M. Gardner & Claudia K. Gunsch

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  1. Courtney M. Gardner
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  2. Claudia K. Gunsch
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Correspondence to Claudia K. Gunsch .

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  1. Department of Civil & Mechanical Engineering, University of Missouri–Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Deborah Jean O’Bannon

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Gardner, C.M., Gunsch, C.K. (2020). Environmental Microbiome Analysis and Manipulation. In: O’Bannon, D. (eds) Women in Water Quality. Women in Engineering and Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17819-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17819-2_7

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