Thursday, September 20, 2007

EM technology


EM Technology Of Waste Water Treatment :

EM - short for "Effective Micro-organisms.
EM is a liquid culture of aerobic and anaerobic micro-organisms mainly sourced from human food processing and from nature. It consists of lactobacilli, yeast, photosynthetic bacteria, ray fungi and filamentous fungi. It does not contain any genetically modified organisms, is safe and easy to handle, and harmless to human health even if accidentally ingested.
EM offers benefits in the following fields of activities: Solid waste management, sewage and effluent treatment, hazardous waste treatment, hygiene management, and environmental regeneration.

METHOD OF PREPARATION OF EM SOLUTION:

One liter of EM stock solution and 2 kg of organically grown jaggery (or of molasses) are to be mixed with 17 liters of water and kept for fermentation for ten days in a 20 liter container.. The water has to be clean and free from chlorine. The container should be of food-grade plastic. (Glass or metal containers are not appropriate as the development of gas may cause the container to break or explode.). It should be clean, not contaminated with chemicals, and have an airtight lid. As little air as possible should be left in the container (between the liquid and the lid). As gas pressure will develop, the lid will have to be opened everyday for a second to release it.
For the period of activation, in tropical regions , the container has to be placed in shade at ambient temperatures (20-40 degrees Celsius) without exposure to strong temperature fluctuations. Depending on actual ambient temperatures, extended EM (abbreviated as EMe or EMa) will be ready after five to ten days: This is verified by a pH of or lower than 3.5 and a pleasant sweet-sour smell.
Thus from one liter of EM stock solution and one kg (or liter) of jaggery, 22 liters activated EM solution ready for use can be produced. In hygiene, EMa is being used full strength or in dilution with water up to 1:100, in farming in dilutions ranging from 1:200 to 1:1,000, and in wastewater treatment diluted (with effluent or sewage) up to several thousand times. With one liter of EM stock solution, 2,200 liters (if EMa is diluted 1:100) or 22,000 liters (if EMa is diluted 1:1,000) of solution can be produced, and even bigger volumes of effluents can be treated.
Package Treatment plant: Upflow aerobic Bio Reactor module
The module consists of  a) Bio Reactor with EM technology, b) Tube Settler
The effluent will be pumped at an average flow rate to the Biological reactor. .
This is basically attached growth upflow aerobic bio reactor.The flow will be from the bottom of the reactor to the top overflow weir of the reactor.
The biological reactor is fed with 200 Liter of EM solution.
The clarified wastewater collected from the collection launder of reactor is sent to the tube settler.The clarified waste water is sent to the disinfection tank/ sewer.
Because of the new method, the size of the treatment plant reduces by 10 -15 % thereby reducing capital cost.
Also Maintenance cost is minimised .



HOW TO MAKE EM SOLUTION
The ‘mother culture,’ been created in the lab to very specific specifications with all of these species of beneficial microbes.
Mix mother culture with at least 250 times as much water.

Container Size
Hot Water (80-85%)
Molasses (4%)
Mother Culture (5%)
Sea Minerals (0.25%)
1 pint
1 ¼ Cups
1 ¼ Tbsp
1.5 Tbsp
¼ tsp
1 quart
2.5 Cups
2.5 Tbsp
3 Tbsp
½ tsp
2 quart
5 cups
5 Tbsp
6 Tbsp
1 tsp
1 gallon
10 Cups
⅔ Cup
¾ Cup
2 tsp
5 gallon
4 Gallons
3 ⅓ Cup
4 Cup
3 Tbsp
The percentages don’t add up to 100% because I leave a 5-10% air space on top. Also note that while I’ve given fairly exact numbers above, you don’t have to be nearly that exact. Just try to use a little more EM than molasses.
8. More water. Fill the rest of the bottle up with more hot water, leaving an inch or two of space on top.
9. Shake. Gently, but firmly, like you’re playing shaker in a Sergio Mendes song – not like you’re a machine that shakes paint cans.
10. Warmth. It will do best to sit somewhere between 90-110 degrees Fahrenheit, so put it in the warmest part of your house. I actually put mine in my oven with just the oven light on, and a post it note on the ‘Bake’ button to let the cook of the house know it needs to be removed if any cookies are to be made (learned this one the hard way). It will work okay at 70F, but will take a lot longer.
11. Leave it. I leave the cap off for the first 24 hours, but after that I screw it on tight because this is a fermentation (without air). It will take at least 1 week until it’s okay to start using, and more like 2-4 weeks until it’s really good (or 6-8 weeks if you can’t find a warm place for it to sit). Even at a warm temperature, it’s nice to give it 1-3 months to reach peak perfection. That’s why it’s nice to start this process now, so it’s ready for spring.
12. Burp it. If you don’t have a carboy, you’ll eventually want to ‘burp’ it daily by simply unscrewing and screwing the lid back on, to release the gases that will start forming after 2-5 days depending on the temperature.
13. Test it. Once you’ve been doing this for awhile, you can get a feel for when it’s done by smell and taste, but I still like to do a test with pH paper (or a pH meter) that gives readings in the 2.5 -4 range. Anything below 3.8 and above 2.7 is okay, with 3.0-3.5 being ideal. 3.8 and above are no good.

14. Use it.

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