MDG News and Updates

Lift stations are commonly used as a part of operations across a variety of different industries. While they are extremely useful, they can be difficult to maintain when not cared for properly. At Microbial Discovery Group (MDG), we have spent countless hours in the field with our partners, reviewing their customer’s maintenance challenges, and looking for new ways to innovate. As a result, we were inspired to create a comprehensive approach to lift station treatment that can garner results quickly. LIFT STATION BASICS By design, lift stations are used to pump liquid, typically some form of wastewater or sewage, from a lower elevation to a higher elevation. This process begins when sewage is fed into the station and into an underground well. The well is furnished with several different float switches to detect the volume of sewage present. When the sewage level rises to a predetermined point, the pump begins to propel the sewage upward through a pipe system until it exits the station. From there, the sewage could be arriving to a wastewater treatment plant or to flow downward with gravity until it arrives at the next lift station. In some cases, the pump transports the sewage through a […]

Our QA/QC team is constantly working hard to ensure both of our facilities are running in tip-top shape. Nicole DeGeorge is a key member of this team and most recently played an instrumental role in adding Food Ingredient to the scope of MDG’s HACCP Certification. 1. What drew you to Microbial Discovery Group? MDG caught my eye back in 2015. From working in third-party testing labs over a number of years, I already had a lot of regulatory and laboratory experience under my belt. MDG offered a rare opportunity to put some of the more specialized knowledge to use and to start growing my career in a unique way. I was also impressed by their commitment to helping communities near and far. Many companies are all talk when it comes to that sort of thing; on my first visit I was able to see how much they had accomplished through their Feed, Clean, Save (FCS) program. 2. What does your typical day look like? Over the years, this has been changing dramatically. I’m finding myself doing much more than just performing routine testing for our products. Recently, more and more of my time is spent programming/coding and developing technological solutions for handling […]

As more and more people are working remotely, their sewage and septic systems are being put to the test. We’ve written recent articles highlighting the potential for backups and the various items that shouldn’t be making their ways into your septic tank. Good news, we’ve also touched on the strength of biological treatments. MDG manufactures pre-measured and easy-to-use septic tank pouches that work hard well after application to continue fighting potential back-ups. SporActiv® SepticPacs are pre-measured water-soluble packages created specifically for use in septic systems. To dose, it’s as simple as flushing the toilet. When first picking up these packs, you may be curious about the material. In your hands, it may feel similar to plastic, but fear not! The water-soluble packs are made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film. When this film hits the water, it dissolves and the material becomes readily digestible by the SporActiv® microbes in the septic system. You may already be familiar with polyvinyl alcohol film as it has been used for many years to package detergents in “pods”. The same convenience of laundry and dishwasher pods is now available for septic treatment: no measuring, no spills, no fear of incorrect dosing. Every SporActiv® SepticPac delivers roughly 75 billion waste-degrading […]

At MDG, we make Bacillus cultures and products for a range of industries, including food. When it comes to serving our customers in this industry, specifically those manufacturing probiotics for human gut health, they often ask how we keep their cultures separate from those in the other markets that we serve. To keep food ingredients safe from cross-contamination, we leverage a dedicated room and equipment for food ingredients and process one strain at a time. We also follow strict manufacturing practices mandated for the food manufacturing industry, including having all equipment cleaned and logged after each use. How we process probiotic food ingredients Powder processing starts in the food room at our facility in Oak Creek, WI. The food culture is milled in this room and then added to a dedicated stainless-steel intermediate bulk container (IBC) which we refer to as “R2D2”. Once R2D2 is filled, a special lid is fastened to the top that has dividers acting like paddles to help mix the culture effectively. The IBC is then wheeled over and connected to the blending machine which lifts and rotates the bin, thoroughly blending the culture within the IBC. It’s important to have a blended or homogenized culture as this will […]

If you’ve tried to buy any hand sanitizer lately, you’ll know how difficult it is to find, let alone at a normal price! While the increased usage of sanitizers and disinfectants may be helping to protect us against the spread of germs, it has had a negative effect on the microflora balance in wastewater treatment lagoons. It’s also inspired some companies to market their bioaugmentation products as new solutions to this problem when the early users of bioaugmentation have been overcoming chemical upsets in wastewater and bioremediation for over 50 years. Wastewater facilities face daily attacks on their microflora balance, not just from the increased usage of personal sanitizers, but also from routine activities like: Chemical sanitizers/disinfectants being washed down drains from processing facilities Changes in organic loading due to temporary shutdowns or product changeovers Acceptance of large loads of septic waste High levels of rainfall Even lesser known is the fact that a facility recovering from an imbalance or “toxic upset” is more susceptible to additional upsets due to the delicate nature of the wastewater microflora. The use of bioaugmentation products not only resolves toxic upsets, but also makes wastewater systems more resilient. Over the next few weeks, we’ll […]

Nobody wants to wake up in the morning to the smell of their pet’s mess. But lucky you, you’re the one who gets to clean it up. Before you run to the cabinet to grab that foaming cleaner with a strong fragranced deodorizer, perhaps it’s best to take a few minutes to understand why your pet’s mess smells the way it does. Knowing this may encourage you to grab a different cleaning option that will do more than mask the odor, it will remove it. To choose the right product, you must understand what compounds you’re up against. Significant insight into the breakdown of feces and odor production has been reported1 and provides good information about why your pets feces smells so bad. Whether we’re discussing dog, cat, or horse feces, all feces odor comes from similar odor-causing compounds. While the diet plays a significant role in the varying quantities of these compounds, you can be certain the culprit is a mixture of these top 5 contributors: 1: Volatile fatty acids (VFAs): VFAs are organic acids produced by the microbial metabolism of biomass and food waste, such as dietary fiber, starch, protein, and amino acids.  VFAs are quite odorous, and the variety of […]

What is bioaugmentation? The word “bioaugmentation” can be broken down into two parts: -bio and -augmentation. Together, they describe the process of adding helpful, pre-selected bacterial strains that were isolated from a specific environment (biology) to enhance (augment) an existing microbial community.   Why are bioaugmentation products used? Just like you and I, not every species and strain of bacteria are good at everything. We all have a unique set of talents and abilities. Bioaugmentation products are used when you want to improve an aspect of an environment biologically (i.e., eliminate foul bathroom odor, digest complex hydrocarbons in soil, reduce wastewater sludge). And while the existing community of bacteria are good at certain things, when we introduce specific strains that are better than others, we can make the entire population more efficient. For example, in wastewater treatment, while the existing community may be good at breaking down specific substrates, the addition of Bacillus has been shown to significantly reduce fats, oils, and grease (FOG), sludge, odors, COD/BOD, suspended solids, the chance for system upsets, and more.   How do the bacteria within bioaugmentation products work with the existing microbial community? It is vital to note that rather than taking over the system, […]

Wastewater Lagoons can be found just about everywhere, in different climates and countries across the globe. They’re used in wastewater treatment for a variety of different industries and while this means there are some differences in application, we’ve found that they often fall victim to many of the same challenges. Here’s how bioaugmentation and our Biotifx® products like Biotifx® 40B work to combat some of these common issues. Bioaugmentation Works on SLUDGE Challenge: Within lagoons, influent solids and biological growth and decay accumulate, forming sludge. This accumulation adds up over time and needs to be physically removed to avoid under performance. This removal process is incredibly expensive. Solution: Biotifx® 40B biologically removes sludge by increasing the digestion of organic sludge content. Bioaugmentation Reduces Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) Challenge: Lagoons can easily accumulate extensive amounts of FOG that can be seen floating on the surface. This buildup causes: Limited aeration ability H₂S and odor production Loss of treatment capacity Limited evaporation High removal and disposal costs Solution: Biotifx® 40B combats these challenges by using FOG as a food source, while growing and creating more bacterial workers in the process. Bioaugmentation Combats Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S) CHALLENGE: Lagoons that have the following create a recipe for the […]

MDG provides critical infrastructure products for the animal feed, human consumption, wastewater, and biotech sectors, and demand for supply continues to push MDG’s previous plans for expansion. Further, as supply channels from overseas competitors have become weakened or shut down completely, new inquiries come in each day to the US-based company. Finally, certifications for food manufacturing for cultures used to make probiotics has been a catalyst for recent growth. Additional centrifugation equipment arrived the second week in April 2020, and MDG continues to build a third freeze dryer for the Franklin, WI facility. Meanwhile, MDG is finalizing plans to build a spray dryer at the Oak Creek, WI facility, having just received conditional approvals from the city. This growth is requiring MDG to recruit not only additional staff but also complete plans to expand from the current 40,000 sq. ft facility to ultimately double production, blending packaging, and warehousing space. Much of the fermentation culture drying capacity is required to maintain pace with the recent addition of two fermentors, which increased fermentation capacity 5-fold. Once the dryers are in place, this opens the door to adding a 4th fermentor in the Franklin facility. To make space for the new fermentor, […]

As cleaning continues to trend upwards, it’s important to understand all the terminology and options in the Industrial and Institutional industry. The term “bio-enzymatic cleaner” is one you’ll come across often, but depending on which customer is requesting it, they may be requiring something different than the next. Here at MDG, we describe bio-enzymatic cleaners as cleaners that use some form of biology to aid in the cleaning or removal of organic material. While many companies may have a similar definition, there is a lack of understanding around the different types of biology used as well as the differing benefits. Many bio-enzymatic cleaners contain either enzymes or bacterial culture which produce enzymes. Both biological ingredients can be used independently or in combination to break down soils, grease, food, or other materials. At MDG, we make biological concentrates for manufacturing companies who then formulate and label bio-enzymatic cleaning products. Each partner of ours is unique in application, business needs, and definitions of success. Depending on the customer, our recommended biological additives changes. The table below highlights some of the main differences between biological additive options: Ingredient  Enzymes Bacillus Bacteria Enzyme + Bacillus Combination Definition Enzymes are non-living proteins produced by organisms […]