Wastewater treatment plant operators have relied on a variety of monitoring tools — DO, pH, SV30/SVI, sludge depth — to keep facilities running efficiently and within permit requirements. While microscopic exams and ATP measurements provide insight into the health of the biological unit’s biomass, these techniques provide limited insight into the actual bacteria required for efficient waste treatment.
Recent advances in molecular biology now make it possible and affordable to understand and track the key bacteria — both good and bad — that impact wastewater treatment plant performance. Two of these advances, microbial community analysis (MCA) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction
