SOLUTIONS
Del Mar brothers John and Dave Bullington have billions of answers to problems like sewage spills and oil slicks--bacteria. Or more precisely, Bac-Tera, their own special recipe of naturally occurring bacteria that live to gobble up all sorts of nastiness. “We’re a totally organic product,” says John. “There’s no chemicals, no genetic manipulations.”
There are other natural soil and water treatments, but most are enzyme-based and so can only break down one particular kind of matter; Bac-Tera can break down innumerable compounds. And with no toxic consequences. “What we’d seen as a problem in other products,” says John, “was that they isolated certain enzymes, and with that came certain side effects that were often worse than the original problem.”
Bac-Tera looks and smells like good earth. But under a microscope, each gram contains millions of beneficial bacteria gathered from ponds and soil across the country and blended in the utmost secrecy in the brothers’ Riverside factory. The Bullingtons say that using Bac-Tera can help address a larger ecological problem: that naturally occurring bacteria, which in the past have been able to break down everything from farm waste to petrochemical spills, can no longer keep up with the stress humans are putting on the land and the water. “It used to be that soil and water could handle anything because everything was more spread out,” John says. “All we’re suggesting is that you put back what was originally there so the soil and water can again handle the stress.”
They accidentally discovered that microbes could break down hazardous substances 14 years ago while trying to blend and purify various ores in placer mining operations. So far, Bac-Tera, which the city of San Diego is now testing for use in several waste treatment plants, has successfully treated sewage problems throughout the world. But, the Bullingtons say, the holistic nature of the product has slowed its acceptance by U.S. government agencies.
“Americans today are so technologically oriented,” Dave says, “that they say, ‘Well, if it doesn’t come with a big, expensive machine attached or rely on a computer to operate it, how can it work?’ ”
