INTRODUCTION:

            In many countries and throughout the developed world, discharge of untreated (or poorly treated) sewage effluent into estuaries, streams, and marine waters has caused a continuing concern to environmentalists, health officials and residents. Government agencies, on local and national level, have established guidelines and regulations governing the discharge of such wastes. As a result of this regulation, there has been a need for reliable and efficient treatment of wastes in such areas where sources of discharge are mobile, as with marine-going vessels, large pleasure craft, and feeder vessels using inland waterways. In addition, there has been shown to be a need to effective treatment in the areas where existing sewer lines and where soil structure and nature of waste preclude conventional leaching systems, construction and development is often limited because of lack of treatment facilities for wastes. In these types of situations the use of Packaged custom designed waste treatment system is often indicated.

           The concept of bio-augmentation in the packaged waste treatment system is not new. Over the last twenty years microbial cultures have been developed for a variety of different applications in waste treatment and including the augmentation of packaged units. Many companies now utilized biological treatment and ultrafiltration followed by activated carbon and ultraviolet disinfection for a completely recalculating closed system. The result of their research was a zero discharge unit with an extended operating period and with minimal maintenance. During the development of the unit from 1972 to present, bioaugmentation technology was refined to help combat accumulating ammonia and other forms of nitrogen which resulted from intermittent loading of the units or the units or in certain conditions where primary loading was with nitrogenous waste.