Question

An old leaking oil tank contaminated a well. The residents were placed on a water line and bioremediation was initiated, but expected to take many years. What are the most likely reasons that this bioremediation is expected to be slow?  

Answer 1

Opting for any mechanical means to counteract the effect of oil leakage may prove much more bad than good if not done properly, so bioremediation is a safe choice.

There are many factors that account for the slow process of bioremediation.

1. Oil is a complex compound which contains many higher unsaturated hydrocarbons. Bioremediation works comparatively fast for saturated compounds.

2. This process doesn't use single microorganism but many. So, each species has different rates of degrading the oil compounds.

3. Physical factors like the composition of nutrients for microbes, temperature, mobility in the region, the favourable reaction conditions for degradation primarily affect the rate of bioremediation.

Hence, these microbes convert the toxic oil compounds into harmless but require an ample amount of time to distribute themselves throughout the waterline and thwart the effects.