April 2, 2009: Two updates (pictures to follow):
Microbial Fuel Cell Update: My fuel cell has had very low readings throughout, though I have not been “feeding” the microbes and so I will start a regiment of trying to add vinegar once a week. Interestingly, as a Winogradsky column, this mud and water was not particularly active or smelly, but since I’ve moved it over to the jar and fed it the first batch of sugar, the water has been dark and cloudy for over a month and the smell is so bad I finally had to put it outside. Since being outside, I’ve seen a small jump in voltage. I'm not sure if that's because it's been exposed to more light or it's a coincidence. After learning about the corosion on some of the other MFC projects, I did open the jar and take out the graphite cathode in the water column to check, but it seems to have undergone no corrosion.
3.09.09 0.003 V
3.14.09 0.003 V
3.18.09 0.002 V
3.21.09 0.001 V(column moved outside)
3.23.09 0.001 V
3.28.09 0.004 V
4.01.09 0.004 V
Spring Winogradsky Column UpdateThis column has undergone almost no change since the cheese initially turned white. I have it tightly capped off, and I’m afraid of opening it for the smell. The film on the surface of the water is thicker now and also colored white, but even the water column has not changed much in color. It has just recently started to go a little bit yellow. There is a lot less change than I had detected with my original Bear Creek columns, so I’m wondering if the puddle in my backyard was not as active as Bear Creek or maybe I haven’t given them the right growth materials.