In the news: Bacteria eat diesel on Ibiza
From the article of Ibiza Kurier, july edition, 2023
Bacteria eat diesel: polluted water becomes clean again.
Worldwide unique pilot project in the marina of Ibiza.
We are all familiar with the images of oil slicks after shipwrecks: contaminated seawater is a problem that is almost impossible to solve in such disasters.
But even the smallest oil spills from ship propellers or diesel spills from the refuelling of ships have a damaging effect on marine fauna. One person who has worked extensively on how to make polluted water clean again is the Dutchman Ronny Janmaat.
In Ibiza, he has set up a unique pilot project in cooperation with the marina yacht harbour administration. Ibiza is the first location in the Mediterranean where the murky harbour brackish water regenerates thanks to his company "Microbial Relations". For this, the resourceful environmental engineer relies on microbacteria.
These live in a liquid in an inconspicuous white box directly in front of the entrance to the glamorous Lio nightclub. The petrol station is only a few metres away, and it happens time and again that streaks of fuel spread in the water. The current usually always drives these into the same corners of the harbour - and this is where Ronny's bacteria come in: "We put them on the spot and you can watch how they break down the fossil carbon chains."
He has been living in the Balearics for about two and a half years. During his first week in Ibiza, he discovered a pool of oil coming from a boat in Benirras. "After asking the authorities for permission, I managed to clean up the spill by putting a canister of bacteria on my paddleboard, rowing through it, and mixing it with the oil." Other clean-ups he initiated on Formentera and Cala Llonga also ran successfully: "It seems to me that the islands welcome the idea."
Water quality is a worldwide problem that needs to be addressed intelligently. There are many technologies that supposedly "purify" water, "but some have proven to be harmful to health," Ronny says.
The basics are quite simple: "Wastewater is produced and must be decomposed before it is released back into nature. This takes time, space and powerful bacteria." These are able to break down the organic compounds. He has also incorporated these "bacterial mechanisms" into cleaning products based on enzymes and bacteria for boats and household applications, "so that the degradation of the organic compounds and petrol derivatives takes place right from the start". Preventing the use of chemicals used for cleaning.
For Ibiza, Ronny has developed an automatic harbour cleaning system that allows the bacteria to "eat diesel around the clock in the marina". A worldwide first and a complete success, the effective bacteria not only break down organic matter, fats, pathogens and toxins from the water, but also decompose oil derivatives such as diesel and convert it into CO2, "which is then taken up by plants to produce plant cells and generate oxygen", as the young entrepreneur explains.
The knowledge he has put into practice is based on the latest biological findings on "quorum sensing" (how bacteria communicate), with which he went to market ten years ago. "Based on this technology, we have developed solutions that lead to better water quality and soil health," he says proudly.
The bacteria work immediately and don't need time to adapt: "There are many bacteria products on the market, but our blends are more advanced because they work immediately."
Other products often use ethanol or other surfactants to work: "We only use enzymes and bacteria that are commonly found in soil and water. We don't add anything exotic to the ecosystem."
The bacteria produce no waste and are beneficial to humans and the environment, he says: "They see our waste as food and once they're done eating, they live in symbiosis with nature, not polluting but restoring balance."
Ronny would like to see more port authorities join the project because "our technology is able to break down diesel and organic compounds from water and surfaces, producing clean water and CO2 that is important for plants."
Source: Ibiza Kurier, June 2023