Bioremediation is the use of microorganism

Microorganism

A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...

 metabolism to remove pollutants. Technologies can be generally classified as in situ

In situ

In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...

or ex situ. In situ bioremediation involves treating the contaminated material at the site, while ex situ involves the removal of the contaminated material to be treated elsewhere. Some examples of bioremediation technologies are phytoremediation

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation Phytoremediation Phytoremediation (from the Ancient Greek , and Latin (restoring balance or remediation) describes the treatment of environmental problems (bioremediation) through the use of plants that mitigate the environmental problem without the need to excavate the...

, bioventing, bioleaching

Bioleaching

Bioleaching is the extraction of specific metals from their ores through the use of living organisms. This is much cleaner than the traditional heap leaching using cyanide...

, landfarming

Landfarming

Land Farming is a bioremediation treatment process that is performed in the upper soil zone or in biotreatment cells. Contaminated soils, sediments, or sludges are incorporated into the soil surface and periodically turned over to aerate the mixture....

, bioreactor

Bioreactor

A bioreactor may refer to any manufactured or engineered device or system that supports a biologically active environment. In one case, a bioreactor is a vessel in which a chemical process is carried out which involves organisms or biochemically active substances derived from such organisms. This...

, composting, bioaugmentation

Bioaugmentation

Bioaugmentation is the introduction of a group of natural microbial strains or a genetically engineered variant to treat contaminated soil or water....

, rhizofiltration

Rhizofiltration

Rhizofiltration is a form of bioremediation that involves filtering water through a mass of roots to remove toxic substances or excess nutrients.-Overview:...

, and biostimulation

Biostimulation

Biostimulation involves the modification of the environment to stimulate existing bacteria capable of bioremediation. This can be done by addition of various forms of rate limiting nutrients and electron acceptors, such as phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon...

.

Bioremediation can occur on its own (natural attenuation or intrinsic bioremediation) or can be spurred on via the addition of fertilizers to increase the bioavailability within the medium (biostimulation).