Wastewater Microscopy Course
May 23, 2024 – University Research Park, 505 S. Rosa Road, Madison, WI 53719
(6 Wastewater Credits)

The class will start promptly at 9:30 am. The class will end at 3:30 pm.

9:30 am – 9:45 am: Introduction to microscopy – Benefits of performing microscopy on activated sludge process, course overview and specific areas to focus on.

9:45 am – 10:00 am: Microscopy handling practices – Preventing damage to microscopes, routine maintenance and other important notes.

10:00 am – 10:20 am: Choosing a microscope – Microscope types, lenses and their purposes.

10:20 am – 10:45 am: How to perform microscopy on wastewater samples – Preparing wet mounts and smears, what to what to look for in floc, filaments, higher life forms, bulk liquid, sludge age, problem solving.

10:45 am – 11:15 am: Filaments – Identification, impact on mixed liquor, common filament types and how to ID (M. parvicella, NALO, S. natant, Thiothrix spp, Low F:M, 021N), filament environments and viability, filamentous growth control options.

11:15 am – 11:30 am: Microscopy stains – Gram stains, what they are and how to perform them as well as other useful stains like Neisser stain, sulfur accumulation, PHB, fungi stains.

11:30 am – 12:15 pm: Working lunch – Identifying interesting microbes in wastewater.

12:15 pm – 3:15 pm: Hands on Microscopy – Demonstrations, prepping slides, gram staining, microscopy hands-on use, looking at attendees’ samples to assess processes, talk about optimizations or problem solving based on observations, talk about sending photos to consultants, discussion and questions.

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm: Conclusions and discussion

Course Instructor: Daniel McKeaton – Aquafix, Inc.

Pre-Registration is required for this class

Click below for a printable class agenda:

Wastewater Microscopy Course (5-23-24) – Madison