Figures 5-14 and 5-15 illustrate PCP degradation by

bacteria that were acclimated to phenol (#304 and #310) or

2,4-dichlorophenol (#305, #306 and #311). Some increase in

degradation rates in these samples were observed but the

effects were less pronounced than in those samples that were

amended with sludge. The average half-life for PCP was

about 80 days with the exclusion of #310 because of the low

R2 value. Neither phenol degrading bacteria nor 2,4-DCP

degrading bacteria showed conclusive superiority over the

other as an aide to PCP degradation.


5.4.3 Multiple Compound Biodegradation.


 A multi-compound biodegradation experiment was

conducted in order to examine the effects of co-degradation.

As in previous experiments, phenol, 2,4-DCP and PCP were the

target compounds, and unless otherwise specified, equal

concentrations for all three compounds were used in the

solutions. For unknown reasons the 2,4-DCP data were so

anomalous that had to be discarded. All degradation data,

including those for 2,4-DCP, are presented in Appendix C.

 The results for phenol degradation in multi-compound

conditions are presented in Table 5-16 and Figures 5-16

through 5-21. The degradation rate constants were

calculated based on eight to ten data points (n), depending

on how soon the compound had reached the detection limit.