How long does it take the microbes to eat a gallon of oil?
It all depends on surface area, oxygen, water and nutrients. If it is in a gallon bucket, it will take a very long time (unless you have aeration equipment, plenty of water and have monitoring for nutrients). If it is spread thin, like on a roadway, it may be digested in a very short time with favorable conditions. Microbes are like people — they do best with plenty of water, a food source and oxygen. The gallon of oil would best be treated with 1 quart of Micro-Blaze diluted with 10 gallons of water in a 55-gallon drum and aerated. If the gallon of oil is spilled along a roadside, good results have been obtained with a 3% solution of Micro-Blaze oversprayed on the spill from water-type fire extinguisher or even a garden-style sprayer. There is usually good air exchange and natural rainfall keeps the microbes digesting the waste. No need to “dig and haul” in these cases.
