Swine feces generate substances with an offensive odor composed of volatile fatty acid and hydrogen sulfide. A phototrophic bacterium, rhodopseudomonas capsulata, plays an important role in preserving water in its natural habitat. Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, a bacteria isolated from pond-bottom ponds, has been used in wastewater treatment. It has been suggested that the bacteria plays a role in the utilization of volatil fatty acids (VFA) that contribute to offensive odour. Laboratory testing has been done to verify if the bacteria could lower the VFAs emissions when mixed to swine sewage. Under controlled conditions, gas sampling was taken from the headspace of swine sewage incubated with the bacteria. The results obtained showed that the amounts of VFAs can be reduced.
The tests were done under controlled conditions in laboratory with sinthetic sewage manure. Further testing on swine production facilities should be done to verify if such treatment is efficient on production scale.