Wastewater That Cleans Itself — And Turns A Profit

By Kevin Westerling, Editor, Water Online

Through his work on microbial fuel cells (MFCs), Bruce E. Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering at Penn State University, may be on the verge of “changing the game” with regard to wastewater treatment. Logan and his team are developing an MFC that uses the bacteria already present in wastewater to generate electricity, potentially resulting in tremendous energy savings for treatment facilities.

The technology is based on new knowledge around MFCs, which are bio-electrochemical systems that create electrical currents by mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature. While it has long been known that electricity can be created using bacteria, until now expensive and toxic chemicals were needed to shuttle electrons from the bacteria to the electrode and purified chemicals — an essential step in the process. At Penn State, researchers figured out that the bacteria in wastewater (and any biodegradable material) can do the same job as the special chemicals, thus providing its own fuel source.

Considering that water and wastewater treatment operations eat up approximately one-third of a municipality’s energy bill, this breakthrough has tremendous economic implications for municipalities.

“Instead of spending a million dollars, now they’re going to make a half-million dollars,” says Logan.

Watch the video to learn more, or read about Penn State’s MFC project here.

SOURCE: Penn State