This is a joint project conducted by investigators on two University of California campuses, viz. Dr. David Jenkins at Berkeley in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Dr. Blaine L. Beaman in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immonology at Davis. Research will involve determination of the causes for growth of organisms in suspended activated growth biological treatment system for wastewater that are responsible for or contribute to the production and stability of excessive amounts of foam. The research will involve studies in suspended growth reactors and in chemostats employing single and dual pure cultures. The mean cell residence time at which Nocardias are washed out will be determined for a range of temperatures. The effect of various substrates on Nocardia growth, foaming potential and cell wall composition and structure will be determined. The influence of dissolved oxygen concentration and of the installation of selector reactors on Nocardia growth will be determined. The Nocardias present in the suspended growth systems will be physiologically and morphologically characterized and the nature of the foaming principle will be determined for Nocardia growth on a variety of substrates.
