Bioremediation products treat petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater by feeding, boosting, or replacing the microorganisms that break hydrocarbons down into CO₂ and water. Which product you need depends on one question: does the site need more oxygen, more bacteria, more nutrients, or a passive delivery method that doesn't require pumping equipment? This guide walks through ERE's five bioremediation products and how Canadian consultants match them to a site.
What Are Bioremediation Products, and When Do They Beat Excavation?
Bioremediation products are dosed amendments — bacteria cultures, oxygen-release compounds, and nutrient blends — that accelerate the natural biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater. They beat excavation when the contamination sits under a building, roadway, or active facility where dig-and-haul isn't practical, or when the volume of impacted soil makes disposal costs prohibitive relative to in-situ treatment.
The tradeoff is time: excavation removes contamination in days, while in-situ bioremediation typically runs months to a few years depending on plume size, contaminant type, and how much oxygen or bacteria the amendment delivers. For gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other petroleum releases, the microorganisms that do this work already exist in most Canadian soils — the limiting factor is almost always oxygen, and secondarily nutrients or population size.
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Pathways
Most of ERE's bioremediation line targets aerobic degradation — bacteria that need dissolved oxygen to metabolize BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Oxygen is consistently the limiting nutrient in saturated soil and groundwater, which is why oxygen-release compounds are the most commonly specified product in this category.
Which Bioremediation Product Matches Your Contamination Type?
Each product in ERE's bioremediation line solves a specific piece of the puzzle — oxygen supply, bacterial population, nutrient availability, or delivery method. The table below compares the five products by mechanism and target contaminant.
| Product | Mechanism | Release Profile | Target Contaminants |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIIO™ | Bioaugmentation — live hydrocarbon-digesting bacteria (BioSafety Level 1, non-pathogenic) | Immediate, dosed at 4 L per m³ of soil | Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, furnace fuel, mineral oil/grease, BTEX, aromatic and phenolic compounds |
| OxyClean Advanced™ 14FR | Sodium percarbonate — fast oxygen release | Fast (13% available oxygen) | Petroleum hydrocarbons, sulfides, disulfides, mercaptans, phenols, organic amines, aldehydes |
| OxyClean Advanced™ 18SR | Calcium peroxide — slow oxygen release | Many months (~17.3% active oxygen) | BTEX, MTBE, TPH, PAH, phenol/cresol, halogenated and non-halogenated compounds |
| NutriBIIO™-S | Biostimulation — polymer-coated 18-6-12 NPK fertilizer | 4–16 months at 21°C soil temperature | Supports bacterial growth where nutrients (not oxygen) are limiting |
| OxyDfuse™ | Passive calcium-peroxide diffusion cell, installed in-well | Up to ~12 months, no pump required | BTEX, MTBE, TPH, PAH; also acts as an infiltration barrier against plume migration |
How Do Oxygen-Release Compounds Work?
Both OxyClean Advanced™ products release oxygen by chemical decomposition, but at very different rates — the choice between them depends on how long the plume needs treatment, not on which one is "stronger."
Fast-Release: OxyClean Advanced™ 14FR
14FR is sodium percarbonate — dry, dust-free spherical granules that decompose to oxygen, water, and sodium carbonate, delivering 13% available oxygen (roughly 28% hydrogen-peroxide equivalent) more rapidly than the slow-release 18SR formulation below. Packaged in 50 lb units, it's specified for soil remediation, pond and lagoon closings, sludge treatment, oil-and-gas sites, dechlorination, and municipal odour/grease/corrosion control where a quick oxygen pulse is the goal.
Slow-Release: OxyClean Advanced™ 18SR
18SR is calcium peroxide — a fine, pale-yellow, odourless powder with very low water solubility, engineered to release its ~17.3% active oxygen content over many months rather than in a single fast pulse. That makes it the default choice for enhanced aerobic bioremediation of groundwater and soil plumes where BTEX, MTBE, TPH, or PAH contamination needs sustained oxygen rather than a single pulse. Packaged in 110 lb units.
Passive Delivery: OxyDfuse™
OxyDfuse™ packages the same calcium-peroxide chemistry into a diffusion cell — a porous tube installed directly in a 2" or 4" monitoring or injection well. There's no pump, no injection schedule, and no mechanical system to maintain; field studies cited by the manufacturer show oxygen release continuing for up to a year per installation. The two available sizes are the OXY-D-FUSE-2 (1.6" diameter × 17.5" length, 1 lb minimum weight per tube) and OXY-D-FUSE-4 (3.5" diameter × 20" length, 6.6 lb minimum weight per tube). Beyond oxygen delivery, a row of OxyDfuse cells across a plume's downgradient edge also functions as a passive infiltration barrier against further contaminant migration.
Do You Need Nutrients Too? Biostimulation vs. Bioaugmentation
Oxygen alone doesn't always solve a bioremediation project — sometimes the limiting factor is bacterial population size, and sometimes it's nutrient availability. These are two distinct interventions and a site can need either, both, or neither.
Bioaugmentation: Adding Bacteria with BIIO™
BIIO™ is a super-concentrated blend of live, naturally occurring hydrocarbon-digesting bacteria — BioSafety Level 1, non-pathogenic, non-opportunistic, and not genetically engineered. It's dosed at 4 L per cubic metre of soil to treat, requires no preparation time, and works in soil and water across salt, brine, and freshwater conditions. It targets gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, furnace fuel, mineral oil and greases, BTEX, and aromatic/phenolic compounds, degrading them to CO₂ and water. Bioaugmentation makes sense when a site's native bacterial population is too small or too slow to keep pace with the contaminant load — cold soils, recently disturbed sites, or heavily impacted zones are common candidates.
Biostimulation: Feeding the Population with NutriBIIO™-S
NutriBIIO™-S is a polymer-coated, controlled-release 18-6-12 NPK fertilizer that supplies nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to an existing (or newly augmented) bacterial population. It releases over 4 to 16 months at 21°C soil temperature, with a single application covering a full treatment cycle — release rate is engineered to hold steady regardless of soil type, pH, moisture, or microbial activity level. Biostimulation is the right call when bacteria are present and active but nutrient-starved, which is common in sandy or heavily leached soils where nitrogen and phosphorus wash out quickly.
How Do You Choose Between Active Treatment and Passive Diffusion?
The decision comes down to plume size, site access, and how much ongoing labour the project can absorb. Three steps narrow it down:
- Confirm the limiting factor. A site assessment (dissolved oxygen, nutrient, and bacterial-count testing) tells you whether oxygen, nutrients, or bacterial population is the bottleneck — this determines whether you need an ORC, NutriBIIO™-S, BIIO™, or a combination.
- Match release rate to plume persistence. A shallow, recently discovered release with a defined source often responds well to 14FR's fast pulse; an established, dispersed plume typically needs 18SR's sustained months-long release.
- Decide on active vs. passive delivery. Sites with existing monitoring wells, limited equipment access, or a preference for minimal site disturbance are strong OxyDfuse™ candidates — the tradeoff is treatment radius per well versus the labour of a full injection or surface-application program.
For the full site-characterization and equipment context behind these products, see ERE's soil and groundwater remediation equipment guide.
What Does Canadian Regulatory Closure Require?
Closure on a Canadian petroleum-hydrocarbon site is measured against numeric soil and groundwater criteria, not against "treatment applied" — bioremediation products are a means to hit those numbers, not an end in themselves. The CCME Canada-Wide Standard for Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHC) in Soil sets the fraction-based numeric criteria (F1–F4) most provincial regimes reference or adopt directly, and the companion CCME PHC guidance manual covers site classification and the analytical methods used to confirm compliance. Provincial programs (Quebec's RPRT, Ontario's O.Reg 153/04, Alberta's EPEA) layer their own reporting and risk-assessment requirements on top of these criteria — confirm the applicable provincial framework before a remediation plan is finalized, since bioremediation timelines and confirmatory sampling schedules depend on it.
ERE supplies these products to environmental consultants and contractors across Canada from the bioremediation collection — bacteria, oxygen-release compounds, nutrients, and passive diffusion cells for soil and groundwater petroleum-hydrocarbon projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can bioremediation products be combined on the same site?
Yes — a common configuration pairs an oxygen-release compound (14FR or 18SR) with NutriBIIO™-S to address both the oxygen and nutrient limitations at once, and adds BIIO™ bioaugmentation if a site assessment shows the native bacterial population is too small to process the load.
How long does bioremediation take compared to excavation?
Excavation removes contamination in days; in-situ bioremediation with these products typically runs from several months to a few years, depending on plume size, contaminant type, and the release rate of the amendment used.
Do bioremediation products work in groundwater as well as soil?
Yes — BIIO™ is labelled for both soil and water applications (including saline and brine conditions), and both OxyClean Advanced™ products and OxyDfuse™ are designed for groundwater and saturated-soil oxygen delivery.
What's the difference between OxyClean Advanced™ 14FR and 18SR?
Both are oxygen-release compounds, but 14FR (sodium percarbonate) releases its oxygen quickly, while 18SR (calcium peroxide) releases over many months — the choice depends on whether the plume needs a fast oxygen pulse or sustained long-term treatment.
Need help matching a bioremediation product to a specific site assessment? For our full range of remediation equipment, see the bioremediation collection, or talk to ERE about dosing and site-specific selection.
Need help selecting bioremediation products for a site?
ERE Inc. has supplied environmental remediation equipment and amendments to Canadian consultants and contractors for 30+ years. Talk to a real technical rep about dosing, delivery method, and site-specific selection.
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Lire en français : Produits de biorémédiation pour sols et eaux souterraines contaminés : guide pour le Canada