Spirochetes

Associated Plant Conditions

Spirochetes are associated with low D.O. or septic conditions. Septicity may be present due to settled sludge, anaerobic decant, or accepting septic waste.

Treatment

Spirochetes are an indicator organism for low D.O. or septic conditions. By themselves, they do not cause a problem. If you are concerned about your plant conditions contact a technical rep for information and recommendations.

Because wastewater issues and the cause behind bacteria can be complex, we recommend our Filament ID and Microanalysis. This not only confirms organism ID, but looks at biological indicators, plant design, and incoming substrates to decode your unique process.

Under the Microscope an in Your Plant

Spirochetes are a spiral, motile bacterium. They are an indicator of low dissolved oxygen conditions and sometimes septicity. The growth of Spirochetes will be more likely in the bulk liquid of an aeration basin if anaerobic decant is fed back into the head of the plant. They are also frequently observed in systems that recently accepted septic waste or have anoxic/anaerobic zones at the head of their aeration basin. Spirochetes can be identified under 400x magnification.

As Spirochetes rarely cause issues in wastewater plants, there is less information available about them in wastewater settings.