Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitates ( Micp )

When reading of the concrete that the ancient Romans used, and learning of their unique mixture of volcanic ash and slaked lime (“pozzolana”) I find it most interesting that this concrete still proves to be standing in some places today! It is said to be less sturdy than what we use here in America (Andrews, 2012) but no doubt it gave modern civilization the ingenuity to create what we use today.

The microbes found in soil go hand in hand with the microbes found in our bodies, especially the gut microbiome. Soil is used to grow various plants and crops which we then ingest. As stated in Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People, we have completely destroyed soil microbes by overusing fertilizers and pesticides just like how we have destroyed our gut microbes by ingesting processed foods and large amounts of antibiotics. Soil microbes, including bacteria and fungi, form symbiotic relationships with plant roots to help provide the plant with many nutrients needed to survive. In order to restore and improve the soil once again, we need to reintroduce bacteria and fungi that are capable of repairing the damage. Through recent technological advances, the soil microbiome was genetically sequenced. This allows farmers and other scientists to understand which microorganisms are

Another common remediation technique is stabilization or solidification which aims to alter the contaminants into a less soluble or mobile form (Wuana and Okieimen, 2011; Mulligan, Yong, and Gibbs, 2001; United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1991). In both methods water and a site-specific chemical solution is mixed into the soil to either alter its physical - make it less soluble - or chemical - reduce mobility - properties to make it less likely that the contaminants will move into other locations or be inhaled (Wuana and Okieimen, 2011; Mulligan, Yong, and Gibbs, 2001). Chemical treatment can also fall under the umbrella term of stabilization. Chemical treatment is add chemical solutions to the soil to detoxify the soil and can be used as a pre-treatment for other techniques such as solidification (Wuana and Okieimen, 2011; Mulligan, Yong, and Gibbs, 2001). These techniques are typically preferred due to lower costs but other physical elements of the soil, such as boulders, can make mixing the soil difficult and the process can volatilize and release volatile compounds (Mulligan, Yong, and Gibbs, 2001; United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1991). Mobility of contaminants can also be reduced by using the technique of vitrification through the process of heating up the soil (Wuana and Okieimen, 2011; United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1991). This method results

more outcome of the presence of LNAPL in the pore space of the soil is the decrease in

After looking at the results of this lab, we noticed that the growth in the first Nutrient agar plate had a multiple bacterial growth, but for the sabouraud dextrose had variety of fungus which means that the fungi grow isolated from other microorganism in the soil. For the second Nutrient agar plate we saw a clearing on the 4 areas that we added the soil on which means that the fungus had produced the antibiotic (penicillin) to inhibit and kill the other microorganisms.

In typical neutral soil, the numbers of bacteria dominate over the number of fungi. Because of this, general growth plates often see little to no fungal growth when placed in these conditions. In order to select for fungal growth, an acidic medium is normally used because fungi grow readily at higher acidity (S.A. Waksman, submitted for publication 1922). This information is useful in determining the type of medium required to select for fungal growth.

Creation of development platform will use large amount of imported material – soil and aggregate, indirect effect at extraction sites which are greenfield area

Concrete can be looked at as a material made from sand, gravel and cement. According to Lambert (2002), “the first major concrete users were the Egyptians in around 2,500 BC and the Romans from around 300 BC”. Roman concrete like modern concrete was an artificial building material made up of aggregate, binding agent and water. Aggregate could be gravel, chunks of stone, chunks of rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent could be mud , lime or gypsum, mixed with rubbles stone. The Roman added pozzolona, a special volcanic dust found in central Italy (Archserve, n.d). The addition of pozzolona made the bond with the aggregate far stronger than what was traditionally being used. This development drastically changed and shaped construction work in the life of Rome.

“Roman concrete (opus caementicium), like modern concrete, is an artificial building material composed of an aggregate, a binding agent, and water. Aggregate is essentially a filler, such as gravel, chunks of stone and rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent is a substance which is mixed with the aggregate wet (water added) and solidifies when it dries, or "sets." Many materials, even mud, can be a binding agent, and used to make, what we generally call, mortar. Historically lime or gypsum, mixed with rubble stones, have been used as binding agents in making a strong mortar” (Roman Concrete).

It is always difficult to remove contaminations from soils because it contains many toxic chemicals such as (Pb, As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Hg and Zn). This chemicals mixed with the soil after burning of industrial waste, electronics waste or uses of agricultural technology. Then rain water makes it seep deep into the soil and cause soil pollution. This makes it so difficult and time consuming to remove, particularly when the affected area is on a large scale. Soil is made of by two components which are organic and inorganic solid constituent, water and mixture of different gasses present in various proportions. The mineral component in the soil varies, according to the parent material which the soils had been developed due to the issue of different type of climate conditions. Also, soil can also be classified into three different properties, physical, chemical and biological properties. Physical properties of soil are being controlled by soil water movement, such as texture and soil structures. The soil moisture have high tendency in controlling solute movement, salt solubility, chemical reaction and microbiological activities and most importantly the bioavailability of metal ions. In this situation, a successful phytoremediation program must be considered as an alternative in the specific site. In the past lots of researchers have tried different method in order to mitigate or reclaim the heavy metals polluted soils, but so far phytoremediation is the best of all because it is

Deposition of the various wastes from the excavation process has a significant effect on the composition of micro-organisms on the environment. The remains are composed of biocides and heavy metal which have a significant effect on the environment and its inhabitants. Natural gases that escape such as methane mix with vapor from the environment, resulting in increased acidity of the soil. This reduces the productivity of land as crops do very poorly under such saline conditions (DiGiulion, Wilkin, Miller & Oberley, 2011). The acid levels leak to the earth’s surface changing the oxygen and bacterial contents of the soil structure. This in return results in the plants being unable to fix nitrogen, the consequence being the reduced hydration capability if the plant hampering the formation of cellulose hence weak and contaminated plants will be

The sewage is sent to a wastewater treatment plant through sewers where it goes through primary treatment. It undergoes clarification, followed by disinfection, before being released into the receiving body of water. In the primary treatment chamber, solids descent to the bottom and enter a digestion unit. These solids then experience further treatment prior to transportation or storage. During the creation of biosolids, the waste goes through a reduction of disease-causing organisms and minimizing the characteristics of the biosolids that makes it attractive to vectors such as flies, mosquitoes and rodents. Next, the biosolids are tested for metals to make sure it is fit for land application and hazardous waste determination. Each treatment plant will have a different method to complete this process but it will always go through a process to make sure it is safe to use which makes this a realistic alternative to our current agricultural practices. It is also recycling wastes so using these biosolids can leave a positive impact which is also another reason why it is a very realistic alternative. The potential stakeholders in this issue are big businesses such as Merrell Bros., Inc which is a nationwide biosolids management company which help municipalities, industries and agricultural operations successfully manage and recycle biosolids. Farmers who receive these biosolids don’t have to pay for it.

Roman building using cement (Labate, 2016) dates from the third century BCE. Cement was used with crushed bricks and rock to produce concrete used for building. The cement was made from volcanic dust (pozzolana), lime (calcium oxide) or gypsum (calcium sulphate). This mixture reacts when mixed with water, binding the concrete into a permanent, strong, impermeable structure. The Roman engineers discovered that the use of cement in their mortar dramatically increased its strength. Special types of cement were discovered and used for under-water structures like harbors and bridge piers. Roman workmen perfected the skill of building with concrete, some of which, like the Parthenon, are still intact and beautiful to this day. During the first century CE, Rome had a “Concrete Revolution”, many concrete buildings being built as skill developed.

In conclusion, the comparison between the spring and summer experiments demonstrated that the treatments mostly showed significant results, but both factors (temperature and nutrient availability) had the biggest influence on the microbial metabolism. Nitrate was a limiting factor in the summer experiment; therefore, microbes did not grow as much as they did in the spring experiment. Microbes preferred to grow in the dispersant and dispersed oil treatments than in the oil treatment, which indicates that dispersant had a big impact on microbial metabolism and influenced their degradation ability.

Soil samples can be taken from various geographic locations and depths. Utilizing a culturing device called an iChip, researchers can better replicate the