2. Exactly how do bacteria degrade waste?
Bacteria produce enzymes that allow them to break up complex compounds into pieces that can enter the cell to be used for growth and reproduction. Some bacteria use the carbohydrates and proteins usually found in the suspended solids that elevate biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), while others employ compounds most organisms cannot, such as sulfide, ammonia and hydrocarbons. When added to water, the bacteria attach themselves to solid particles, whether floating in the water or settled on the bottom, and secrete enzymes which decompose the particles. Certain dissolved compounds, such as ammonia and sulfide, are absorbed directly into the cell. Combinations of species often provide a more powerful and complete degradation of specific pollutants than individual strains applied alone, because the by-products of one species often serve as another species' food. Only a correctly balanced formula of bacterial strains, such as our product line, can use this synergistic effect to completely break down pollutants to non-toxic by-products such as carbon dioxide, water and sulfate.

3. What happens to the bacteria when the job is done?
Bacteria replicate at an enormously fast rate when they are well fed, about once every 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the species. The bacteria will replicate as long as the pollutants in the system can feed the population. As the pollution level decreases, the bacteria die off and reproduce less often. In this way, the population naturally tailors itself to the pollution level. By the time the job is done, the bacteria have died back to a normal population. Some will go into dormancy, and reactivate if the pollution level begins to rise again.

4. Is our bacteria genetically engineered?
No. The bacteria that we use are Alken Clear-FloŽ formulas that are natural isolates, selected for desirable properties and challenge adapted. They are not genetically altered in any way.

5. Is the bacteria in our products safe?
Clear-FloŽ products are Biosafety Class 1, non-pathogenic (are not a cause of disease) to humans, animals and plants. All Clear-FloŽ products are certified salmonella and shigella-free. Clear-FloŽ causes no short or long-term detrimental ecological effects. In fact, by reducing total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia salts, hydrogen sulfide, and other contaminants in your lake/pond/reservoir, Clear-FloŽ contributes better water quality. The combined safety and effectiveness of Alken Clear-FloŽ has led to its selection by a number of government agencies for the clean-up of public water bodies.

6. Are these products safe for fish?
YES! Clear-FloŽ improves the aquatic environment for fish and other wildlife by removing ammonia and sludge from the water column. Alken Clear-FloŽ has been used in 18 states and 39 countries for a variety of aquaculture and remediation conditions. Alken Clear-FloŽ has been authorized for use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for specific applications. It has also been used by Tyson Foods, Marineland of Florida, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

7. If these bacteria are already present in nature, why do they have to be added to a natural system?
The bacteria in nature are kept in check by organisms in the food chain that eat them and are not always suited to the kind of wastes in which they find themselves. In the case of a tough pollutant such as cyanide, the natural bacteria may not be accustomed to using it as a food source. By flooding the system with a carefully selected and enhanced combination of organisms, the added bacteria have an enormous competitive advantage, and are free and able to handle the wastes at a given site.

8. If the special bacteria in Clear-FloŽ reproduce in the field, why isn't one dose sufficient?
Fresh from the pail, each strain of our bacteria has been specially adapted to prefer specific difficult-to-degrade wastes. After adapting the strains to a specific purpose, our technologist blends the strains in a particular formula to suit the intended task. Without our formulator's artificial selection process, each succeeding generation (after the first 10) reverts more and more toward the "wild", again, preferring simpler carbon sources, such as sugars, found in the waste stream. In other words, after "breeding" in a waste stream with a low concentration of the target substance, for 10 or more generations, the descendants of our product become more and more indistinguishable from the wild population. Of course, if the waste stream is highly concentrated with the target substance, and the waste flow is fairly constant, the maintenance dose can be cut back until it is miniscule. A few competitors claim that their products are also selectively adapted and that their strains do not revert, no matter what. Those same competitors fail to mention the fact that their strains are too WEAK to survive for enough generations for any reversion to occur!

9. Can Clear-FloŽ control weeds?
Since aquatic weeds do not feed from the water column, instead absorbing their nutrients directly from the sludge layer, they are not as immediately affected. Clear-FloŽ can be used to break down up to 60% of the sludge layer over a few months with the added benefit of eventually reducing water weeds.

10. What kind of pollutants does Clear-FloŽ target?
Virtually all organic contaminants except PCBs can be degraded with Clear-FloŽ. These include but are not limited to: sludge, manure, grease, oil, chlorides, ammonia, nitrite, sulfide, some pesticides, hydrocarbons, cyanide and phenols.

11. How does Clear-FloŽ clarify the water?
Clear-FloŽ reduces the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) that cloud the water column by digesting the floating organic matter.

12. How does Clear-FloŽ deal with phosphorus in the water body?
Clear-FloŽ bacteria can absorb some phosphorus (as PO4) in their cell mass, using it as a nutrient catalyst in the production of enzymes and proteins. The bacteria also use phosphorus in cell reproduction, making it unavailable as a food source for algae and aquatic plants.

13. How does Clear-FloŽ control odor?
By accelerating the natural nitrogen cycle, Clear-FloŽ enhances the rate at which ammonia is converted into nitrite and then into nitrate, eliminating the release of ammonia gas. A number of Clear-FloŽ products contain special strains selected for their ability to biodegrade hydrogen sulfide, eliminating these odors as well.

14. Where can Clear-FloŽ be used?
Clear-FloŽ products have been used for lakes and ponds, industrial wastewater, aquaculture, landfill leachate, greenhouse irrigation water, agricultural waste, groundwater pollution and restaurant waste. Since many pollutants are ubiquitous, applications are numerous and ever expanding.

15. How do chemical algaecides cause long-term problems?
By killing off all algae and most beneficial bacteria, chemical algaecides put additional nutrients (degrading algae) back into a water column. Fish, which rely on algae as a food source, die off. These dead fish add to the climbing nutrient levels, which are not degraded by the now depleted supply of beneficial bacteria, causing an increasingly out-of-balance ecosystem. This unbalanced system supports a growing population of aquatic plants until the situation becomes worse than it was originally. The dead fish, algae, and plant matter sink to the bottom, contributing to the sludge layer, which emits hydrogen sulfide and methane gases as it rots. Without plants to add oxygen or beneficial bacteria to alter this cycle, the pond changes from aerobic to anaerobic respiration, killing the last of the remaining fish. The pond now becomes a breeding ground for disease and parasites. Re-establishing a balanced system, with aeration and Clear-FloŽ, promotes a long-term healthy environment.

16. Is Clear-FloŽ a natural algaecide?
NO. Clear-FloŽ does not directly attack algae causing its demise. The special strains of bacteria in Clear-FloŽ are designed to compete aggressively for the available sources of nitrogen and phosphorus, which provide the primary food source for algae. By reducing the available food for algae to reproduce, algal proliferation is reduced.

17. Does Clear-FloŽ require an EPA registration number?
NO. The EPA declines, by legislation, to regulate the Clear-FloŽ "naturally occurring, indigenous, and non-pathogenic" bacteria under FIFRA (Federal Insecticides, Fungicides, and Rodenticides Act). Therefore, no EPA registration number is required. No other permits or applicator licenses are required.

18. Is Clear-FloŽ compatible with algaecides, antibiotics or pesticides?
Algaecides indiscriminately kill living microorganisms including beneficial bacteria, such as those in Clear-FloŽ. If you must use these, wait at least 14 days before applying Clear-FloŽ to clean up the ensuing debris. (We have had success with SonarŽ weed killer followed by Clear-FloŽ 1200 in 14 days.) Clear-FloŽ is susceptible to most common antibiotics. If you must use antibiotics for your fish, wait at least 48 to 72 hours after treatment to reseed your system with Clear-FloŽ. A small dose of many pesticides can be consumed by Clear-FloŽ 1200. If the pesticide contamination is known to be large, you can supplement with Clear-FloŽ 7002 for effective remediation.

19. Why is the discharge of BOD & COD regulated?
Definition: BOD = Biochemical Oxygen Demand - The rate at which microorganisms use the oxygen in water or wastewater, while stabilizing decomposable organic matter under aerobic conditions. In decomposition, organic matter serves as food for the bacteria and energy results from its oxidation. The BOD test procedure measures the rate of oxygen use under controlled conditions, usually incubation in the dark at 20°C for 5 days.

EPA regulation 40CFR Part 503 contains rules for disposal of treated biosolids as fertilizer. The 180 page EPA Publication 832-R-93-003, Plain English Guide to EPA 503 Biosolids Rule, explains the regulations governing recycling of treated sludge and other biosolids through anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes, heat treatments etc. The EPA also issues discharge permits that specify the limits of chemicals, nutrients, and bacteria that may be safely discharged to the environment.

The above mentioned rules are not arbitrary. The discharge of pathogenic bacteria and excess nutrients in high BOD must be controlled to protect the ecology. Depositing large quantities of undigested nutrients onto the land upsets the balance of the nitrogen cycle. High BOD waste kills certain plants, leads to the growth of different plants on land leading to starvation for the indigenous populations of animals, birds, and insects. Leachate from land applications of this waste can pollute the water table and nearby rivers and lakes, where these excess nutrients support different phytoplankton which cannot be digested by the normal populations of fish, oysters, and shrimp, leading to massive death of aquatic life, which leads to death of the predators that feed on these species. Other hazards of depositing high BOD waste into rivers include: the proliferation of pathogenic species of bacteria, the proliferation of Pfiesteria (a microorganism which has caused so much fish damage that entire rivers have been closed during certain seasons), and massive fish kills due to insufficient oxygen in the water as the high BOD waste uses up the oxygen that is present. The odors from high BOD waste attract pest and scavenger birds, insects, fish and animals, thus allowing these populations to increase at the expense of other species.

High COD waste containing chemicals, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc can poison the natural population of (unselected, unadapted) waste degrading bacteria, thereby breaking the food chain and leading to all the problems associated with a high BOD waste mentioned in the previous paragraph. High levels of these chemicals can also directly poison higher life forms. Permits are established limiting the amount of these toxins released to the environment in a given location.

Biosolids produced from a municipal facility or one that processes restaurant and animal farm waste should be sampled and tested monthly for the following pathogens to meet the specifications of this rule: fecal coliform, salmonella sp., enteric virus, viable helminth ova, inorganic pollutants, specific oxygen uptake (BOD/COD) and total fixed and volatile solids.

20. Is aeration necessary?
A number of bacterial strains in Clear-FloŽ products utilize dissolved oxygen in their digestive process. Aeration will enhance the effectiveness of these aerobic bacteria, particularly in aquatic environments. If the dissolved oxygen level of a water body is already very low and Clear-FloŽ is added, which consumes additional oxygen, a situation may be created in which there is inadequate oxygen for the fish - causing a fish kill! The Clear-FloŽ bacteria are facultative anaerobes, so they can also work in anaerobic environments where nitrate is available, as an oxygen source.

21. Why aren't Clear-FloŽ products available on the shelf of retail stores?
Clear-FloŽ's highly concentrated and specialized formulas have achieved their high success rate by testing and diagnosing problem situations and by prescribing the precise CUSTOM formulation or combination of formulas treatment schedule, and application method needed to achieve maximum results. As noted under the aeration and antibiotic questions, certain situations must be resolved, such as by ceasing antibiotic application and adding aeration, before Clear-FloŽ can succeed. For large projects, such as treatment of a river or canal, engineering reports are often generated detailing the treatment strategy, laboratory procedures to verify progress, and usage of equipment such as aerators and bioreactors.

22. What are the characteristics of Clear-FloŽ products?
Clear-FloŽ formulations are manufactured in both liquid and dry media. These formulas are packaged in a dormant or vegetative state and have a 95% reactivation rate within their shelf life, which varies from six months to two years, depending on the product. The technology behind this dormancy constitutes our competitive edge; most other products have a far lower survivability and therefore lower effectiveness. Many of our competitors offer the older "freeze-dried" technology which results in a reactivation rate as low as 35%. Others offer a liquid product which must be frozen until use: difficult to transport and expensive to store.

23. How is Clear-FloŽ applied?
There are two ways to utilize Clear-FloŽ: direct application and bio-filtration. Direct application is utilized in lake, pond and river treatment, aquaculture, soil remediation, drains, grease traps, composting, wastewater treatment, odor control and manure treatment. Product can be applied by pouring it into the system or onto waste, by spraying or by injection, as appropriate. Bio-filtration is used in aquaculture, groundwater and wastewater treatment where a biological filter is seeded with Clear-FloŽ and then the water runs through it.

24. How much product is needed?
Dosage is highly dependent on the pollution level, the waste volume and the specific product utilized. AquaBio Environmental Technologies offers tables for aquaculture, lake, pond, and waste treatment applications that can be used in most cases.

25. How do our products compare economically?
Biological treatment with Clear-FloŽ products is far less costly than dredging, incineration and paying fines. Chemical treatments may be less expensive, but are stop-gap remedies and generally address only one aspect of the contamination. Clear-FloŽ products give you "more bang for the buck", because they treat the whole system. Natural systems regain their own capacity for self purification. Microbiological products offered by competitors, sometimes offer a cheaper price by the pound, but suggest a dosage from two to seventy-five times that of Clear-FloŽ, which makes the total cost of treatment more expensive.