Our Columns are Working!

We are seeing green bubbles in our columns, which is a good sign and means that they are working! Anaerobic bacteria has been forming since the columns were constructed consuming cellulose as their energy source. This causes them to create CO2 that other bacteria use.  Colors begin to form in the column resulting from the different bacteria; our first color is green which shows the sulfur photosynthetic anaerobic bacteria.



We were also able to measure a current in the two columns that are wired, but the multimeter was a little broken so we were unable to get an exact reading.

A fine biofilm is developing on all of the columns at the interface between water and air. They are probably aerobic microorganisms that thrive with with high oxygen concentration. Next week we will seal off the columns without wires and see what happens.