Reasons why groundwater cVOC concentrations increase up to 10-fold when ERDENHANCED is used to amend groundwater at a DNAPL-contaminated site

1. Biosurfactants.
The native microbial population increases rapidly when easily degradable carbon like ERDENHANCED is provided. Intrinsic aerobic and facultative bacteria include species of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Rhodococcus, which produce many powerful biosurfactants, including lipopeptides, glycolipids and rhamnolipids. These biosurfactants reduce the interfacial tension between water and cVOCs, so that they are emulsified into the water phase. The emulsification process partitions the cVOCs into surfactant micelles. This increases cVOC apparent solubility, which increases the groundwater cVOC concentration.