Food processing wastes

Organic wastes and wastewater from producing operations are usually treated in a "pre-treatment" process before being discharged into the sewer. This is done to reduce sewer charges by lowering the BOD of the wastewater. BOD stand for "Biological Oxygen Demand", and is a measurement of the amount of organic material in the waste water. Food processing wastes are the water discharged from these operations:

 The pre treatment facility is usually quite simple in designed. It's main purpose is to hold the waste water for sufficient  period of time while the bacteria do their job. The bacteria digest suspended and dissolved solids, actually functioning like a simple miniature wastewater treatment plant. It can be holding tank or retention pond, or a series of tanks and/or ponds.

Unless the ponds or tanks are properly treated, they can give off foul odors, have severe accumulation of solids on the bottom, and fail to lower the BOD as much as desired. This is because the naturally occurring bacteria are not efficiently waste digester. To make this type of pre-treatment process operate properly, you required the right types of bacteria that must be introduced into the system.

Food processors want to reduce the BOD of their wastewater as much as possible before it is discharged into the municipal sewer system. Commercial users are required to pay surcharges to the sewer system authority if their waste has high BOD. This is done because the high BOD waste puts an extra burden on the municipal treatment plant, making it work harder than normal. When you consider the many thousands of liters of water that a food processor can use every day, even a small "per liter" surcharge can add up to big bills. Proper pretreatment of the waste - before discharge into the sewer system - will reduce or eliminate costly surcharges.

Food processing waste can be difficult to treat than many other types of waste. This is because the food processing waste is fresh organic material. It is not already partially degraded, like many other types of waste. It is often acidic, and contains few naturally occurring bacteria to aid in digestion. It also contains a large amount of cellulose material, which required extra time and effort for the bacteria to digest. Finally, the typical pre-treatment facility is very simple and unsophisticated in design - unlike most municipal sewer treatment plants.

Such a system can, however, do its job very well. If the operator is able to pay a little bit of attention to his system, it will do a good job of reducing the BOD of the wastewater. In most cases, a good treatment program will be as simple as adding bacteria and enzyme product at regular intervals and monitoring of the waste - adding chemical, pH adjusters as required to maintain the pH in the proper range.

The key to proper operation of this type of pre-treatment is time. The special bacteria in Biozyme^® work much faster and more efficiently than ordinary bacteria, but they still require time to digest the waste. The longer the retention time, the more organic matter will be digested, and the lower the BOD of the effluent water. Thus, retention time is the most critical factor in determining how much the products must be used in a regular treatment program.