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NEWSLETTER

NY PHONE: (718) 224-0754 - VA PHONE: (540) 636-1236 - VA FAX: (540) 636-1770

E-mail: "newsletter@alken-murray.com"

Website: http://www.alken-murray.com


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Vol. 3: Issue No. 9

 September 1999

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General

New Phone Number for Voice & Fax in New York

The building we were renting was sold, so the New York office moved a few miles. Since the area code is different, we can only keep a forwarding service from the old number. The new number is (718) 224-0754. The new direct line to Claudia is: (718) 224-0218. 


Alken-Murray Has Collected Ten Website Awards in the Month of August!!

Including two level 5.0 awards, two level 4.5 awards, a level 4.0 award, one level 3.5 award and four other unrated awards. We are really grateful to the website reviewers for their kind words and pretty awards to decorate our site with. We have posted our awards athttp://www.alken-murray.com/awards1.html and http://www.alken-murray.com/awards2.html


Another Learning Fountain - Suite 101 Community of Links

This fabulous site has listed Alken-Murray as a Microbiology Business with a rating of 4 stars, above a large number of familiar name scientific sites. We are honored to be listed with this rating. A link to Suite 101 Links is located at our Miscellaneous Links or go to: http://www.suite101.com


Improved Chemical Formula - Alken® HSN 827

We have posted the product bulletin and MSDS on our website at http://www.alken-murray.com/827pib.htm . This formula has been improved so that it can be used to prevent corrosion of steel bars during manufacture, in addition to its application to prevent spotting and rusting in can production.


Alken Treatment 479 - Summer Sale

We are offering a 60% discount sale on the 5 gallon size pail of this product. First come first served.


Ken's picture is FINALLY On-Line

See a picture of Kenneth J. Edwards, Jr., our Vice-President MIS, supervisor of chemistry, QC and graphics design - at http://www.alken-murray.com/ken.html. Now you will know who you are speaking to when you call for chemical or computer file advice.

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Alken Clear-Flo® Technical Updates



Five Survey Forms Are Now Automated - Fill Them In On-Line and Auto-Submit to Us

We have completed the automated versions of the Aquaculture, Lake/Pond, Bioremediation, Drain/Septic and General Waste Treatment survey forms. Please try them and let us know how you like this feature. Http://www.alken-murray.com/FormFrameSet.html We really DO listen to your requests. Our fax lines are so often busy, that everyone has been begging us to set up an auto-submit, and we are working on it as fast as we can. There are 5 more forms, that are currently "print, fill-in and fax", but we will get the automated versions up as quickly as possible. For those who prefer the "print and fax" versions, they are linked at the bottom of the automated forms, so you can "have your cake and eat it too". Keep those comments coming.


Horse Manure Degrading Tip

You can improve the efficiency of waste degrading and odor control of horse manure by placing the manure, straw, etc. in the bed of a manure spreader, then add the prescribed pre-hydrated microbial formula (Alken Clear-Flo® 7000 or 8000 ) and mix thoroughly. After mixing throughly, operate the manure spreader, to place the manure back into a pile. The chopping and mixing action should accelerate the bacterial activity. Repeat every two weeks until the manure is degraded to a rich humus.


It Looks Like Time for a Repeat of Our "When Are Nutrients Appropriate?" Treatise

Adding nutrients to biological waste degrading became fashionable soon after hydrocarbon bioremediation began. Hydrocarbon waste is often extremely short of nitrogen and phosphorus and therefore requires this supplementation for degradation to take place. One must compare the actual nutrient levels present to determine the correct supplement selection and dosage required.

 

Unfortunately, there are unknowledgeable people circulating in the industry who have tried to apply this technique in the wrong applications. For instance, if a homeowner is not starving to death from inadequate nutrition and uses their toilet and garbage disposal, it would be extremely unlikely (if not impossible) for a typical septic tank to be short of nitrogen, phosphorus, or micronutrients. Therefore, supplementing the system with a nutrient blend of nitrogen and phosphorus (and micronutrients) just adds to the nutrient load already in the system, instead of offering any kind of assistance. What your septic system needs is strong, healthy, viable bacteria to augment its performance, not more food to eat.

 

To illustrate this situation: imagine preparing a dinner for eight people, but you only invite five. Then imagine that your fifth guest is on a diet and only plans to drink water and eat the small salad she brought from home. You now have four people to actually eat the food, designed to feed eight.

 

So, do you call the local pizza delivery shop and request even more food, or do you invite your neighbors over to join you too? Inviting the neighbors to dinner is akin to adding Alken Clear-Flo ® to your septic system. Buying a few pizzas, to add to the dinner for eight, is akin to adding nutrients to your septic system.


WOW! Is All Your Editor Can Say About Washington State University's On-Line Microbiology 101

If you are fairly new to science and you need more information than we have posted at our own website, check out Washington State University's Microbiology 101/102 at: http://www.slic2.wsu.edu:82/hurlbert/micro101/pages/101hmpg.html This is a 5 star site at Suite 101 Links (We rate as a 4 star site), so check it out. There is also a link from our Bio-Links page too.


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Alken Clear-Flo® Competitor Comparisons

 

Comparison of Liquid Grease Trap/Septic/Drain-Line Products -

Product Total* Count Type Color Odor pH Gram Status Tem. Range
Microbe Lift (high count) 300 million CFU/ml Facultative anaerobes red-purple pungent 5-9.8 Positive & Negative 38 - 145 deg. F
Environmental Solutions Liquid Septic Digestant 53 million CFU/ml** "Spores" green odor free 5.0 - 9.8 Positive 38 - 145 deg. F.
Enz-Odor 2 200 million CFU/ml Facultative anaerobes turbid tan musty or herbal 7.0 - 7.8 Positive 50 - 140 deg. F
CF 4100 50 million CFU/ml Facultative anaerobes blue-green pungent pine 5.0 - 9.0 Positive & Negative 50 - 140 deg. F
CF 4103 100 million CFU/ml Facultative anaerobes turbid tan pungent 5.5-9.0 Positive & Negative 50 - 140 deg. F

* Minimum guaranteed count ** Label states 200 billion CFU/gal, which equals 53 million CFU/ml

Microbe Lift-HC for drains costs almost twice as much as the Alken-Murray products listed here.


Dosage Comparisons:

Product

Septic Systems

(2,000 gal tank - 5 people)

Grease Traps

(up to 3000 gal)
Micobe Lift (high count) Initial dose: 1 quart weekly for 2 months. Purge with 3 gal.
 Maintenance: 1 quart every 6 months  Maintenance: 2 quarts every 6 weeks for maintenance.
Environmental Solutions Liquid Septic Digestant Use Microbe Lift for initial dose. N/A
 Maintenance: 15 oz per month  
Enz-Odor 2 Initial dose: 2 cups weekly for 2 doses Initial: 1 quart.
 Maintenance: 1 cup every 2 months  Maintenance: 2 cups twice a week
CF 4100 Initial dose: 2 cups weekly for 2 doses Initial: 1 quart
 Maintenance: 1 cup every 2 months  Maintenance: 2 cups twice a week
CF 4103 Initial: 1 cup weekly for 2 weeks, Initial: 2 cups
 Maintenance: ½ cup a month. Use where surfactant is not desired, and odor is not n issue.  Maintenance: 1 cup twice a week, if surfactant is not desired

As you can see in the above chart, the treatment for one year with Microbe Lift ®(HC) in a septic system for 5 people (2,000 gal capacity) would use 9 quarts, while the treatment with Enz-Odor® 2 and Clear-Flo® 4100 and 4103 would use 9 cups. Since Microbe Lift ® costs more than 1.5 times as much as the Alken-Murray products, the cost of using Microbe Lift ® in a 2,000 gallon septic system is around six times as much as either Alken Enz-Odor® 2, Alken Clear-Flo® 4100 or 4103.


When it comes to grease trap treatment, one year's application of Microbe Lift® requires 23.2 quarts (just under 6 gallons); one year's application of Enz-Odor® 2 or CF 4100 requires 53 quarts (just over 13 gallons). To treat a grease trap with the Alken-Murray products costs a little over $ 50 per year more., so in this one case, we will admit that Microbe Lift may be a better buy, IF it works equally well.


* strains claimed in some parts of literature, but lab reports also included in promotional package claim 8 to 10 strains.
** There are 9 strains in the liquid portion of product, and 7 extra strains in the dry supplement
Product Total Count Number Bacterial Strains Dose for 1 acre-ft Dose for 2 million gallons
Microbe Lift - HC (pond) 300 million CFU/ml 30* 1st: 4 gal. 1 st : 12 gal
Week 2 - 5 : ½ gal./wk    Week 2 - 5: 1.5 gal./wk
 Maint.: ½ gal /month  Maint: 1.5 gal./month
CF 1200 500 million CFU/ml 16** 1 st : 2/3 gal. 1 st : 4 gal
 Week 2 - 4: 1/3 gal./week   Week 2 - 4: 2 gal/week
 Maint.: 2/3 gal/ month  Maint: 4 gal/mo.

Unlike Alken Clear-Flo® 1200, which works in both fresh and salt water, Microbe Lift can only be used in fresh water applications. For a six-month treatment schedule in the 1 acre-ft pond listed above, the Microbe Lift prescription prescribes 8.5 gallons, while the CF 1200 prescribes just under 5 gallons. For smaller applications, both the dose and the price for CF 1200 are lower.


In the larger pond, Microbe Lift prescribes 25 gallons for 6 months of treatment, while CF 1200 prescribes 30 gallons. The DEALER price for Microbe Lift is just under 1.5 times the price of CF 1200 , so the total cost for 6 months of treatment with CF 1200 saves 20% over the cost of treatment with Microbe Lift - HC .

We analyzed two samples of Microbe-Lift HC , supplied by a client, one from a June 1999 batch (sample A) and one from a March 1997 batch (sample B).

Product Specification Results for Sample A (Microbe-Lift, 6/99 batch)

Results for Sample B

( Microbe-Lift, 3/97 batch)

pH: 5- 9.8 7.3 7.6
Total count: 300 million CFU/ml 210 million CFU/ml 143 million CFU/ml
Spore count : Negative Negative Negative
MacConkey Streak - Positive Positive - heavy growth lactose negative Positive - heavy growth lactose negative
STP (nitrifier test - should be positive within 7 days if the nitrifiers have survived in this formula) Negative Negative
Salmonella/Shigella: Negative Negative Negative


The above table illustrates that Microbe Lift maintains its count better than most competing products, dropping 30% of its original count within 3 months, but then stabilizing, so that it drops to a little less than half of its count in two years.


The nitrifiers in Microbe Lift , however, apparently die off or are inhibited, hence the negative result on the STP test . Since nitrifiers are the shelf-life limiting ingredient in Alken Clear-Flo ® 1200 , and Microbe Lift does not show any nitrification activity, it is hard to compare the TRUE shelf-life of the two products. The other strains in Alken Clear-Flo ® 1200 will also maintain a shelf-life of at least 2 years, losing some count and balance, but there will still be a good count at 2 years, although the nitrifiers will be expired.


When you compare grease digesting formulas, Microbe Lift appears to have a BETTER shelf-life than Alken Clear-Flo® 4103 , which is our grease product without surfactant. We were unable to test performance with the small sample we obtained..


The following tables offer the data from two batches of Alken Clear-Flo ® 1200 and two batches of Alken Enz-Odor ® 2, so that a comparison can be made with Microbe Lift (HC).

 

Actual results of testing one batch of Alken Clear-Flo ® 1200 over time.

Product Specification Results of batch # 916L571 (made 4/99) - results at manufacture Results of batch # 916L571 tested 8/99
Total count: 500 million CFU/ml 740 million CFU/ml 690 million CFU/ml
Spore count: 100 million CFU/ml 100 million CFU/ml 99 million CFU/ml
Ammonia oxidation rate: 6 mgNH3/liter/hour 6.3 mgNH3/liter/hour 6.0 mg NH3/liter/hour
STP: Positive within 7 days Positive within 3 days Positive within 4 days
pH: 7.3 7.3
MacConkey Streak: Positive Positive Positive
Salmonella/Shigella: Negative Negative Negative

Actual results of testing a batch of Alken Enz-Odor ® 2

Product Specification Results of batch # 812S060 (made 3/98) results at mfg. Results of batch # 812S060 - tested 8/99
Spore Count: 200 million CFU/ml 330 million CFU/ml 210 million CFU/ml
pH: 7 - 8.4 8.1 8.1
MacConkey Streak: Negative Negative Negative
Salmonella/Shigella: Negative Negative Negative
E-coli: Negative Negative Negative

Please note that both Alken-Murray products maintain a count ABOVE their specification, both at time of manufacture and a number of months later.

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Alken® Fireside Technical Updates

Alken-Murray Now Offers a 25% Magnesium Fuel Additive

Although we still recommend our Alken Even-Flo® formulas, we now can prepare a 25% magnesium additive for those clients who prefer metallic additives. The new formula is named Alken® Fireside 945 . Request information on this product by e-mailing the fuel treatment department at: even-flo@alken-murray.com

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