CASE STUDY / LABORATORY

Bacteria Growth Test: Four to Eight Times More Bacteria in a Day, Larger Cells by Day Five

This laboratory test shows that adding DRP Accelerator to a bacteria culture increased both the population size and the individual cell size within a single day, and the gap widened over five days. Two 1 quart jars were filled with the same untreated East Texas well water, and the same sugar and dry Bacillus and Pseudomonas culture were added to each jar. Only one jar received DRP Accelerator, mixed in at 10 percent of the water volume. Both jars were held at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and sampled under a microscope over five days, with a photograph taken each time of the area on the slide showing the most bacteria. This is a laboratory growth test on an added culture with a sugar food source, not a test in wastewater, and it illustrates the same mechanism DRP Accelerator relies on in the field: when usable oxygen is available, a bacteria population grows faster and stays healthier. By day one the treated jar showed an estimated four to eight times more bacteria and visibly larger cells than the untreated jar. By day four the report estimates forty to one hundred times more bacteria in the treated jar, and on day five individual cells in the treated jar were visibly larger under higher magnification.

Same water, same sugar, same bacteria culture. The only difference was the oxygen.

A laboratory test compared bacteria growth in two jars of the same untreated East Texas well water, one with DRP Accelerator added and one without.
Both jars received the same 90 grams of raw sugar and 45 grams of a dry Bacillus and Pseudomonas culture, then were held at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit for five days.
After one day, microscope samples showed an estimated four to eight times more bacteria in the accelerator jar, with visibly larger individual cells.
The accelerator jar also turned visibly darker and developed a thicker settled layer at the bottom than the untreated jar.
By day four, the report estimates forty to one hundred times more bacteria in the accelerator jar than in the untreated jar.
At forty times magnification on day five, individual bacteria in the accelerator jar appeared larger than those in the untreated jar.
The test used an added bacteria culture and a sugar food source rather than wastewater, so it illustrates the oxygen supply mechanism rather than a treatment result.

Microscope view at ten times magnification of the untreated well water jar, showing a sparse scatter of bacteria.

Microscope view at ten times magnification of the DRP Accelerator jar, showing a dense cluster of bacteria.

Published September 24, 2026

The system

This case looks at a laboratory bacteria growth test, not a wastewater installation. Two 1 quart jars were filled with the same untreated well water from an East Texas well drawn from a depth of about 180 feet. Each jar received 900 milliliters of water, 90 grams of raw sugar as a food source, and 45 grams of a dry Bacillus and Pseudomonas culture. One jar also received DRP Accelerator, the inorganic oxygen carrier we dose into wastewater systems to prevent hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from forming, mixed in at 10 percent of the jar’s water volume. The other jar received no accelerator and served as the untreated blank. Both jars were sealed, shaken, and left undisturbed at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit for five days.

The problem

DRP Accelerator’s mechanism in a wastewater system rests on a simple premise: bacteria that have usable oxygen available to them do not need to strip it from sulfate, and they can put their energy into growing and breaking down organic material instead. This test set out to check that premise directly, outside of a wastewater system, using a controlled bacteria culture instead of a live sewer or lagoon. With the water, sugar, and starting bacteria count held identical between the two jars, the only variable was whether the jar had usable oxygen available to it in the form of DRP Accelerator.

What we did

We filled two 1 quart jars with the same untreated East Texas well water, then added DRP Accelerator to only one of them, at 10 percent of the jar’s water volume. Both jars received 90 grams of raw sugar and 45 grams of a dry Bacillus and Pseudomonas culture. We sealed and shook both jars, then let them sit undisturbed at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. At intervals over five days we compared the two jars by eye, drew a sample from each, and searched a microscope slide from each jar for the area with the highest number of bacteria or the largest individual bacteria, photographing that area each time.

How it was measured

The record is a visual and microscopic one, not a bacteria plate count. At each interval we compared the two jars by eye for color and for the depth of the dark, settled layer forming at the bottom of each jar, then photographed the densest or largest bacteria found on a slide from each jar, at ten times magnification through day four and forty times magnification on day five, when the microscope’s color filter was changed from blue to yellow to sharpen the image. The four to eight times and forty to one hundred times figures below are visual estimates from comparing slides side by side, not a laboratory cell count. The test ran once, over five days, with no repeat run and no plate count to confirm the visual estimates.

Results

Interval	Observation
Two hours	No visible difference between the two jars; used to record baseline photos
Day one	Accelerator jar visibly darker than the blank; an estimated four to eight times more bacteria on the slide, with visibly larger individual cells
Day two	Accelerator jar still slightly darker; a dark settled layer forming at the bottom of both jars, larger in the accelerator jar; bacteria on the accelerator slide still visibly larger
Day three	Same color difference continues; the dark settled layer in the accelerator jar almost twice the size of the blank’s
Day four	Same color difference continues; the dark layer holding at about twice the blank’s; report estimates forty to one hundred times more bacteria in the accelerator jar
Day five	At forty times magnification, individual bacteria in the accelerator jar appear larger than those in the blank

The report’s stated conclusion is that DRP Accelerator increased both the number of bacteria present and the size of individual bacteria, and that using it to strengthen a bacteria population should help any application where bacteria are relied on to break down organic material.

Limitations

This is a laboratory growth test on an added bacteria culture with a sugar food source, not a test run in wastewater, so it demonstrates the oxygen supply mechanism rather than a treatment outcome. The bacteria counts are visual estimates made by comparing microscope slides side by side, not a laboratory plate count or any other quantitative cell count. The test ran once, with no repeat run to confirm the estimates. The source document does not name who ran the test, the exact date it took place, or the specific strains within the Bacillus and Pseudomonas culture used. For a future customer, a result like this is a goal we measure, not a promise.

Proof assets

The study document, “Bacteria Growth Test,” with its microscope photographs from the two hour baseline through day five.
The two microscope photographs above, from that document.
This is a controlled laboratory comparison, not a customer site, so no customer name is at issue on this page.

Contact us. We will show you the program.

A few details are enough to start: your system, roughly how much flow it sees, and the problem you want gone. Estimates are welcome; we ask for the rest on the call.

Your name *Email *OrganizationPhone (optional)Your system *Location *Main problem *Flow, gallons per day (an estimate is fine)Tell us more (optional)System details (optional)Timing (optional)

By sending this you agree to be contacted about your inquiry. See our privacy notice. We reply within one business day. No agreement or charge is created by this form.