U.S. Water News Online
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Common, kitchen-variety vegetable
cooking oils poured
down the casings of water wells promote the growth of naturally
occurring
microorganisms that in turn devour contaminants, a U.S. Department
of
Agriculture scientist has determined. The vegetable oil cure has
even
demonstrated an ability to mitigate nitrate contamination of wells,
said
William Hunter with USDA's Agricultural Research Service at Fort
Collins.
Hunter and his colleagues at the Soil-Plant Nutrient Research Unit
have
tested the vegetable oil treatment in columns of packed soil in
the
laboratory, and are now moving to field testing in wells. The lab
studies
suggest that three quarts of vegetable oil could remove nearly all
nitrates
from 10,000 gallons of water that contains 20 parts per million
nitrate-nitrogen.
"These oils, squeezed from corn or soybeans, provide a carbon source
for
naturally present microorganisms," said Hunter. "They 'eat'
nitrogen
fertilizer that has slipped beneath the reach of plant roots," he
added. The
vegetable oils, safe for humans and the environment, "rapidly
stimulate
bacterial activity even at extremely high nitrate concentrations
rarely
encountered in groundwater," Hunter noted.
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