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In partnership with Microscopist Natalie Walton, we developed a fun blog series to highlight the common micro-organisms (aka bugs) that can be found in wastewater treatment plants.
Not that long ago, we were lucky enough to witness firsthand just how amazing rotifers can be. You won't believe what we were able to catch on camera. A pregnant rotifer giving birth!
Worms make our skin crawl, they can cause real problems for a wastewater plant and each type requires different treatment. There are two in particular, red worms and Tubifex worms, that we often encounter and can be difficult to distinguish with just the naked eye.
Tardigrades are very helpful to many areas in the scientific community. They have been launched into space, shot out of guns, and thrown at walls; all in the name of scientific research. When tardigrades are observed in a wastewater plant they mean your sludge age is high, albeit stable. But what happens when there are signs of tardigrade death?
Due to their pronged tail and general shape, gastrotrichs can be commonly mistaken for a type of rotifer. While this case of mistaken identity is completely understandable I'm here to help you from making that mistake. But first, let's get to know these lovely creatures a bit better.
In short, no; water fleas and water mites are not interchangeable terms for the same organism. Both, however, are nicknames for two different organisms. In fact, you may even recognize the genus name of water fleas, daphnia, as they are used in effluent WET testing.
Swimming ciliates tend to appear in a wastewater plant when free bacteria levels are starting to decrease. While they do favor a slightly young but healthy microbial sludge age, they don’t accurately indicate a sludge’s age. Swimming ciliates are also very diverse and come in many different shapes and sizes. These characteristics typically do not rapidly change in the span of minutes…. until now.
Suctorians are one of the more interesting protozoa found in wastewater, at least to me; in particular, I find the way they look and how they feed fascinating. If you’ve never seen a suctorian before they can easily be mistaken for a doodle.
We all know nicknames can stem from many different things, whether it be a funny or embarrassing situation that your friends don’t let you live down, the food you eat in excess, or what your sister called you when she was young before she could properly say your name; the meanings behind these names can be endless. But did you know there are wastewater organisms that have nicknames?
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