Safwat Mahmoud, PhD, PMP

In recent years, researchers focus on treatment of wastewater using low-cost treatment processes. Several studies showed that using effective microorganisms (EM) is a promising technology in the treatment of wastewater. However, the treatment mechanism using EM is not clear. In this study, the effect of EM towards several pathogenic microorganisms was investigated to examine its ability to inhibit their growth. The results showed that EM has the ability to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus faecalis; while no effect was detected on fungi that were examined.