The Application
Industrial Waste Water Services has been providing equipment to the beef industry for over 20 years. Beef processing plants can create a challenge when it comes to wastewater treatment depending on how the facility is set up to handle the different types of waste present.
All plants are set up with holding pens where the animals are placed before being processed. How they treat this area is critical when determining the best treatment methods. Some plants wash these areas down after they are finished processing and all the accumulated waste ends up in the effluent wastewater to be treated. This makes the water high in BOD as well as ammonia. The paunch is also very important when it comes to the system design. Ideally these should be segregated from the wastewater so that they can be removed separately and hauled off for land application.
These plants also use a lot of high pH cleaners for sanitation and this must be accounted for in the design of the waste treatment system.
All the water that leaves the facility will pass through a screen of some type to remove coarse solids such as hair, bone fragments, hey, meat particles, and other items and then in to an equalization basin. From the basin the water will be pumped to the wastewater system where it will be physically and chemically treated to meet all discharge limits and then released to the local POTW. Some of the treated water can then be utilized to wash down the live haul area and other areas through out the facility. This practice has been approved by the FDA as well as USDA as long as the water is not used on any surface that contacts edible product. By doing this they are able to conserve water thus saving money.
The Challenge
The challenge is to design the system around the plant operations and having a complete understanding of how each plant operates as well as their discharge limitations. Special care is taken in the design to not only meet these limits but to ensure easy operation for your personnel. Cost of operation is another consideration to be taken into account when choosing a system, our high performance enhancements mean that with an IWWS system you will spend less on chemical cost when compared to other manufactures. Another challenge to be faced is floor space, with the highest flow rates vs. size in the industry, you will need less space for waste water equipment and have more room for production.