MDG News and Updates

MDG’s Manager of Administration, Jean Carlo “JC” Mercado Fajardo, wins the Initiative and Responsibility Award. What about the work you do at MDG that drives and fulfills you? Every day looks different for me. Its almost like a surprise as to what fun or challenging task will I encounter today. This gives me the opportunity to use my skillsets to problem solve, collaborate with team members to achieve a task or goal, or learn something new. What is your favorite thing about being a part of the MDG Team? Everyone I work with are more than talented and equipped individuals, they are passionate team members, leaders in the field, looking for innovative ways to support and work towards our vision to FEED, CLEAN, and SAVE THE WORLD. What is something at work that you’re passionate about? It depends on what day you’re asking. If I must narrow it down to one thing, I am passionate about learning. Learning a new skill or gaining knowledge about a specific topic. Learning about a problem and seeking ways to solve them or be a part of the solution. My favorite is learning about my colleague’s personal life. It helps me connect with other people, […]

1. How do MDG’s Bacillus strains help reduce a variety of organic materials such as debris, decaying food, human and pet waste and FOG? MDG offers Bacillus-based products with different Bacillus strains that have a wide array of capabilities. Bacillus are living organisms and need food to live and multiply. They break down and consume food sources like proteins, carbohydrates, and FOG, that they use to support growth of more Bacillus cells. 2. How are Bacillus strains able to help reduce odors? Bacillus can use certain odor-causing compounds as a food source or to support growth.Substances like volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are consumed as a food source. Other substances like nitrogen are assimilated and incorporated into new Bacillus cells, which prevents them from being released as odorous gasses like ammonia. 3. What types of applications and industries are MDG’s Industrial and Institutional (I&I) Bacillus-based ingredients suitable for? MDG I&I products are best suited for general cleaning and odor reduction. Microbial cleaners work well in applications like drains and grease interceptors where they can prevent build-up of organic material that causes clogs and odors. They also work well for applications like carpet or tile and grout cleaners where they provide long-lasting cleaning and odor reduction on surfaces that are traditionally hard to clean. 4. How […]

Save Your Customers’ Business with Bioaugmentation The food service industry inevitably has problems with fats, oils, and grease (FOG), and being proactive vs. reactive can be the difference between a thriving business and no business at all. It is essential to provide your customers with an effective and reliable FOG solution. This will help to prevent health code violations, drain backups, emergency pump-outs, unnecessary downtime, and ultimately poor customer satisfaction. Clogged Drains, Closed Doors Pumping out FOG from drains or pipes can cause your food service customers to close their doors for 2-5 days. This means a significant loss in income for their business. Flies Shoo Away Business Clogged drains may attract flies to a business, but it doesn’t attract customers. The conditions within a clogged drain meet all the requirements for pesky flies. Once making their way to the problem area, flies can transport unwanted bacteria to other areas of the kitchen. Little Trust Leads to Few Customers Customers notice when businesses unexpectedly close their doors. They can also both see and smell big cleaning trucks pumping out FOG in the back parking lot during the middle of lunch hour. Public information on FOG build-up, foul odors, grease spills, or […]

Microbial Discovery Group (MDG) is growing in many ways! We began making plans to expand and increase custom fermentation capacity as we realized the potential for growth. To do so, we needed to relocate office and laboratory space from our original Franklin facility to an 80,000 ft² facility located in Oak Creek. MDG Oak Creek now houses three laboratories, office space, spray drying and additional blending capabilities, packaging, and warehousing operations. We began this expansion in 2021 by leasing 40,000 ft² at the Oak Creek facility, doubling the powder blending room size. This expansion into MDG Oak Creek increased blending capacity and volume while providing space to add blending, milling and other equipment in the future. In addition, an external structure was built to install a 34-ft spray dryer and pilot spray dryer. Our Plant Health and Growth (PHG) market will benefit from the small micron size of spray-dried culture, as they dissolve faster and can be incorporated into field applicators. Later in 2021, we signed another September-start lease for the second half of the 80,000 ft² Oak Creek facility where we initiated construction, building office space and three new laboratories. The construction of MDG Oak Creek facility was completed […]

Microbial Discovery Group (MDG) announces continued expansion to meet demand for microbial based products and solutions. MDG Founder, Michael King, Ph.D. stated that Microbial Discovery Group is adding a second laboratory and expansion of the MDG facilities and work-spaces to double the number of possible employees and accelerate the rate of technology development. King further explained the need for expansion. “In 2013, MDG doubled fermentation output with additional downstream processing capabilities. This included the development of new proprietary freeze drying technologies and centrifugation capacity. As we continue to invest for growth, MDG’s research group is united around a passion for solving some of today’s most complex problems through the lens of innovation, experimentation and validation. This laboratory expansion will allow for additional specialization and is a critical path for accelerated development and growth”. Microbial Discovery Group excels at microbial strain isolation in solving major environmental concerns as well as progression through scale-up and large scale manufacturing.

FRANKLIN, WI. – Microbial Discovery Group LLC (MDG) announced a recent addition to the company’s Biotifx™ wastewater team to meet the needs of their growing workforce and market expansion. Dan Romanek was appointed Technical Service Manager. Dan joins MDG with previous experience in wastewater research having worked for various companies such as; Hydrite Chemical, Great Lakes Agricultural Research and Industrial Specialty Chemicals. Dan graduated from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a BS in Biology and Wright State University with a MS in Biology.  “I am really looking forward to starting my career with MDG. It is exciting and rare opportunity to grow with a company whose beliefs of innovation, customer relationship, and environmental impact reflect my own. I believe we can make a real difference at MDG and help create advances towards our market and technological goals,” Dan commented. “We are very fortunate to have Dan join the MDG team and we look forward to seeing them utilize their talents and energy in the wastewater division.”  – Ardean Veldkamp Please welcome Dan Romanek to the MDG team. ### About Microbial Discovery Group Microbial Discovery Group is a Bacillus fermentation company focused on the commercialization of microbials for wastewater, bioremediation, aquaculture, consumer and […]

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 […]

Elevated hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels are a serious concern for wastewater operators and introduce a variety of treatment challenges. While many treatment options reduce the symptoms of H2S (odors, safety risks, and corrosion), they are reactive and neglect the underlying culprit: sulfur-reducing bacteria (SRB).  A discussion of H2S generation will aid in exploring the pros and cons of common reactive H2S treatment methods and how bioaugmentation can be a proactive treatment method. The Escalating Phases of H2S At low concentrations, H2S exhibits a rotten egg odor. At high concentrations, H2S can cause corrosion or physical harm including loss of consciousness or death in extreme cases. Understanding how H2S is generated and changes through its breakdown cycle is crucial to making informed treatment decisions (Figure 1).    Figure 1: Sulfate breakdown in a typical wastewater environment. The process starts with sulfate, which is often present in wastewater. Normal levels of sulfate are harmless and natural. Sludge and fats, oil, and grease (FOG) are another common component of wastewater. When combined, sludge and FOG can create a reaction which removes oxygen from wastewater and potentially creates an anaerobic environment SRB thrive in anaerobic environments with high levels of sulfate.  The higher the concentration of SRB, the higher the potential for H2S production.    Most H2S treatments occur at this point in the breakdown chain, either by enhancing the non-SRB microbial community by introducing additives, or by removing H2S. If H2S goes untreated, […]

Microbial Discovery Group has broken ground on two new expansion projects in Oak Creek, WI, beginning the first of multiple 2021 capital expansion plans.  Completion of the 2021 plan will result in a total investment of $2.7M into the Milwaukee-area. MDG’s business is built on supplying naturally-occurring, bacteria-based products to a multitude of different industries: bioremediation, wastewater, industrial and institutional, landfill, human health, aquaculture and more. Two projects are currently under construction and are scheduled to be completed by late summer, these include, an expansion of the powder blending room and the building of an external structure to house multiple spray dryers. MDG’s blending room will double in size, resulting in greater capacity and volume throughput in response to increased demand across all markets. This expansion is a foundational step, offering MDG the ability to add various blenders, powder milling equipment and additional equipment in future years. The external structure will house a new commercial spray dryer and pilot spray dryer, both currently being built off-site. MDG’s plant bioculture market will benefit from the smaller micron size of spray-dried culture, as they dissolve faster and can be incorporated into field applicator sprayers. Additionally, this development paves the way for additional […]

MDG’s Microbiologist II, Alemayehu Dasho, is a familiar face in the lab. From working on samples to presenting his finding to the team he does it all with a smile.       What drew you to Microbial Discovery Group? I used to work in a veterinary clinic where I had a chance to treat animals with antibiotics for bacterial-related infectious diseases. After treatment, many animals have been exposed to digestion-related problems because of antibiotic effects on normal microflora. There were no products in the market like products of MDG that could be used to replace the microbial community in the gastrointestinal tract of domestic animals in the form of animal feed. Seeing this problem, I desired to work on the animal probiotic side, MDG opened that door.   What does your typical day look like? Typically, my day is spent in the lab working on samples from the production facilities. Tasks I perform include plating and counting colonies on each plate for finished products, cultures and fermentation samples in addition to DNA extraction of culture and fermentation samples.   What are you passionate about? I am passionate about self-development and learning new things through involvement in different projects.   […]