The microbes in Winogradsky column are the same as in EM.
Winogradsky column also may explain why charcoal (carbon) is useful in soil and what it gives.
It can explain the role of S in soil and sulfur cycle in soil.
It even can explain what is in biodynamic preparation 500 and so-called barrel manure.

It can be also an exelent decoration at home.

Thanks for posting that! Great video explanation, too, of how to grow some of that purple bacteria!

For those who loves nature as such, Winogradsky column can be a pearl of the life corner of the home. (Literally a perl because there are purple bacteria there and they have purple color).
It can stand with living bacteria ad infinitum.

"Effective microorganisms" live naturally in the sludge of lakes, seas and rivers. The reason to add them additionally is that the speed of incoming organic wastes exceeds the spead of eating them by those microbes. By increasing the number of them in the river they increase the speed of digestion. Is it clear?

Now I can see red purple bacterias already.

Red points of them are still small, but grow fastly.

Now after a week the closer look at the column shows more bright picture:

Here appeard other kind of unaerobic bacterias at point 160 with bright green color (chromatium) which make photosynthesis using organic acids as electon donor.
Both red and green are unaerobic photosynthetic bacterias.

Another view:

Green on the top are algae.
During a day there are a lot of bubbles on them - an oxygen.

And the last picture:

Cool W column!

Interesting, in the last few days there was an article about a child in North Carolina who contracted a flesh eating bacterium from a lake or pond. A purple bacterium.

I haven't gone back to the EM ingredients to check this bacterium against the purple bacterium listed.

Surely the boy isn't the only one to have swam in the lake. I wonder if there is something particular about his body that allows the bacteria to single him and the other rare cases out. As rare as the affliction is despite the bacteria being everywhere it seems that would likely have something to do with it. Allergies work that way. Some people are deathly allergic to strawberries despite the fact that it's a very healthy food for the majority.

Here's two copepod videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdn2R5fsOHg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkIlOeUWppk&feature=player_embedded

Here's a daphnia video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRkjgHHx1A8

My column is still alive. What is surprisingly is that water on the top is absolutely clear without any smell. So, it is evident now how nature clean itself. I am thinking now about making tall narrow aquarium with red purple bacteria on the bottom and fishes highter.