Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ROY E. CARAWAN
JAMES V. CHAMBERS
ROBERT R. ZALL
PROJECT SUPERVISOR
ROGER H. WILKOWSKE
PREPARED BY:
EXTENSION SPECIALISTS AT:
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
F&V SPNOFF/PREFACE
PREFACE
Purpose:
F&V SPNOFF/PREFACE
Scope:
No written material dealing with pollution control regulations can remain current and up-to-date with our rapidly
changing regulations.
check on current laws and local regulations before consideration of any pollution control project.
Learning Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
ii
F&V SPNOFF/SUMMARY
SUMMARY
The important factors for extension specialists to consider in
developing programs to assist the fruit and vegetable industries in
meeting water pollution requirements are presented.
includes the following:
This document
The
These
explained.
iii
1
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Fruit
and
Vegetable
Industries
The fruit and vegetable industries are as varied as the name implies
- this industry processes in a number of ways the great variety of fruit
and vegetables grown in the United States.
The 1972
the streams, although newer legislation looks at the total water supply.
Legislation
Congress, on October 18, 1972, established PL 92-500, the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. This law was passed to
create a successful mechanism to control water pollution.
Authority was
2
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
abate water pollution.
the Clean Water Act and EPA was required to replace BAT standards with
"best conventional pollutant control technology" (BCT).
To assure that the effluent limitations and water quality standards
would be met, PL, 92-500 established the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES).
the responsibility of EPA, the various states have in most cases assumed
the responsibility for the NPDES program.
Industrial facilities that discharge to municipal systems were also
affected by PL 92-500.
treatment processes and these costs are passed on to the users, including
industrial discharges.
TYPICAL
FRUIT
AND
PROCESSING PLANT
VEGETABLE
SCHEMES
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents some flow diagrams and process descriptions of
a few different fruit and vegetable commodities.
give you a basic idea of the steps involved in processing fruit and vegetables.
GREEN BEANS
As shown in Figure 1, the green bean canning process involves an initial washing followed by grading, snipping of the ends, cutting, blanching,
canning and retorting.
tributors to the total pollutant load were found to be the washing, grading,
and blanching processes.
CHERRIES
The Soderquist study investigated the processing of two different varieties of sweet cherries; Royal Anne and Lambert.
appears in Figure 3.
PEARS
The plant layout for processing Bartlett pears appears in Figure 6.
The pollutional effects of two different types of mechanical peeling systems
were compared:
the older Ewald peelers, and the more modern contour peelers.
The Ewald peelers peel the fruit by slicing over a pre-set contour, while
the more modern contour model follows the individual contour of each pear,
abrading the peel and thereby increasing the yield of saleable product by as
much as 10%.
The study noted that the more modern peeler was decidedly in-
5
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
6
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
8
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
Figure 6.
9
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
Figure 7 depicts the pear canning process. After grading, the pears
are peeled and then flumed in a sodium chloride brine (which retards the
browning reaction on the peeled surface) to a fresh water rinsing tank for
removal of excess brine solution.
trimming tables where blemishes are removed. After trimming, any severely
disfigured pears are directed from the main process line to the "chopping"
area where they are processed for incorporation into secondary products.
CORN
TWO corn processing plants were studied; both plants produced frozen
whole kernel corn and frozen corn-on-the-cob.
from this operation was collected dry and used as silage. No liquid wastes
were generated at this point.
The second major unit operation was the mechanical husker. Here the
husks were removed and again the solid wastes were collected and used for
silage.
The third major unit operation involved in the corn process was the
de-silker, or "silker."
study.
One consisted of a large tumbler into which water was sprayed from
the inside.
The second silker was of the roller type. In this type, the
corn passed over a set of hard rubber rollers while it was being sprayed
from above.
subsequent unit process; generally the water from the cooling operation was
reused in the silkers.
The steps described above were common to the cut corn process and onthe-cob process.
10
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
Figure 7.
11
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
Figure 8.
12
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
was about 30% by weight.
Referring again to Figure 8, in the corn cutting operation the kernels
were mechanically removed and the cobs collected as solid waste.
Practically
no liquid waste was generated in the cutting operation during processing, but
considerable amounts of highly contaminated liquid wastes were generated
during the clean-up operation in the proximity of the cutter.
After being cut, the corn was blanched in a conventional steam blancher.
The only liquid waste generated at this point was the condensate. Following
blanching, the corn was sent to flotation washers. These washers removed unwanted material by encouraging it to float to the surface.
the blackberries were passed through an air blower if the debris level in
the incoming product was sufficient to warrant using the blower. If the
berries were adequately clean and free of debris upon arrival at the plant,
the blower was not used.
13
F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
Figure 9.
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F&V SPNOFF/PROC PLANT SCHEMES
berries were subjected to a wash by overhead sprays. This washing constituted
the only point in the process where the product actually came into contact with
water.
point.
ferent commodities have some unit operations in common. There are on the
other hand, of course, many unit operations which are strictly commodityspecific.
The flow diagrams and texts offered here represent a small sampling of
the many and varied processing schemes that are associated with equally as
many different fruit and vegetable commodities.
ducing you to some general processing layouts which comprise the processing
of fruits and vegetables.
References
1) Soderquist, M. R.
Wastewaters.
1975.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
W A S T E W A T E R
I N
T H E
C H A R A C T E R I Z A T I O N
F R U I T
P R O C E S S I N G
A N D
V E G E T A B L E
I N D U S T R I E S
Introduction
Whenever food, in any form, is handled, processed, packaged and
stored, there will always be an inherent generation of wastewater.
The
Other
time, the ecological balance of the receiving stream, river or lake (i.e.,
aquatic microflora, plants and animals) would be upset.
Continual
depletion of the oxygen in these water systems would also result in the
development of obnoxious odors and unsightly scenes.
This chapter will deal with those industries who utilize the processes
of the canned and preserved fruits and vegetables industry to extend the
shelf life of raw commodities through the use of various preservation
methods including canning, freezing, dehydrating, and brining.
Fruit and
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Fruit and vegetable processing plants are major water users and waste
generators.
Subcategory
Apple Juice
Apple Products
Citrus Products
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Soups
Spinach/leafy greens
Strawberries
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes, peeled
Tomato products
Tomato - starch cheese, canned
specialties
White potatoes, whole
Pimentos
Pineapples
Plums
Potato chips
Prune juice
Pumpkin and squash
Raisins
Sauerkraut, cutting
Sauerkraut, canning
Snap beans (green & wax)
Process
Description
No wastewaters are
generated.
Washing and Rinsing
Prior to processing the fruits and vegetables are washed and rinsed
by means of flumes, soak tanks, water sprays, flotation chambers, or any
combination of these methods.
Detergents and ultrasonic techniques are also being tested for increased
cleaning efficiency.
Sorting (Grading)
The commodity is sorted and graded by mechanical, optical, manual or
hydraulic means.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
In-Plant Transport
Various means have been adapted for conveying fruit or vegetable
products at unloading docks into and through the processing plant. These
include fluming, elevating, vibrating, screw conveying, air propulsion,
negative air conveying, hydraulic flow, and jet or air blasting. Water, in
one way or another, has been extensively used in conveying products within
plants because it has been economical in such use and because it serves not
only as conveyance but also for washing and cooling.
It has been traditional to consider water an economical means to
transport fruits and vegetables within a plant and to assume there was some
sanitary significance to such use, not only for the product, but also for
the equipment.
solubles from the product, such as sugars and acids from cut fruit; and
sugars and starch from cut corn, beets, and carrots.
Alternative systems
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
The oxygen and other gases (nitrogen, carbon dioxide) present in
freshly pressed or extracted fruit and vegetable juices may be effectively
removed by deaeration under vacuum.
product to evaporation and separating the vapors from the residual liquid.
Size Reduction
A wide range of size reduction equipment is required to produce
different types of particulated solids.
most economically product desired results is affected by physical characteristics of the material and by the required particle size and shape.
Blanching
Blanching (scalding or parboiling) of vegetables for canning,
freezing, or dehydration is done for one or more reasons: removal of air
from tissues; removal of solubles which may affect clarity of brine or
liquor; fixation of pigments; inactivation of enzymes; protection of
flavor; leaching of undesirable flavors or components such as sugars;
shrinking of tissues; raising of temperature; and destruction of microorganisms.
Blanching is accomplished by putting the products in contact with water
or steam.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
screen and cooled either by cold water flumes or cold water sprays.
Product to be canned is usually not cooled after blanching.
The pollution loads from blanching are a significant portion of the
total pollution load in the effluent stream during the processing of
certain vegetables.
Canning
The sanitary codes of most states require that cans be washed before
being filled.
First, the cans travel a short distance in the inverted position; second,
they are flushed with a relatively large volume of water under high
pressure; and third, they travel another short distance in the inverted
position for the purpose of draining excess water. This is usually
accomplished mechanically.
The commodity is then filled into the can by hand, semiautomatic
machines, or fully automatic machines, depending on the product involved.
In some products, there is a mixture of product and brine or syrup. In
other cases, brine or syrup is added hot or cold as top-off liquid. When
the top-off is cold, it is necessary to exhaust the headspace gases to
achieve a vacuum and maintain product quality.
Exhausting in order to create a vacuum, is usually accomplished by one
of the three methods:
1.
produces a vacuum.
2.
Mechanical.
Steam displacement.
Drying or Dehydration
Continuous belt dryers are the most commonly used method for dehydration.
which blow heated and sometimes desiccated air from over and under the
bed-depth of the raw slices.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
usually ten to twenty hours, resulting in a product that has a finished
moisture content of no greater than 4.25 percent of onions or 6.0 percent
for garlic.
Post-Drying Operations
After dehydration the dried slices are usually screened, milled,
aspirated, separated, and ground in various mechanical combinations to
achieve the final desired piece size.
Mixing and Cooking
Certain commodities utilize additional ingredients in the manufacture of the finished products. For example, many frozen vegetables are
prepared with butter, cheese, cream sauce, sugar, starch and tomato sauce
added.
shift, usually by washing down the equipment and floors with water. In
some plants it is desirable to maintain a continuous cleaning policy so
that end-of-shift clean-up is minimized.
Clean-up begins with a dry collection of wastes followed by a
washdown.
The washdown may be done with either water alone or with water
22
F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Wastewater
Characterization
Characteristics
Major wastewater characteristics of concern to the fruit and
vegetable industries are the wide ranges of wastewater volume and organic
strength generated.
required and define the limitations of the permit to discharge to a tributary stream (NPDES) or a municipal sewer (Sewer Use Ordinance).
These
only for the 24 hr effluent loads, but to determine the peak load
concentrations, the duration of peak loads and the occurrence of variation
throughout the day.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Obtaining good results will depend upon certain details. Among these are
the following:
(a) Insuring that the sample taken is truly representative of the
wastestream.
(b) Using proper sampling techniques.
(c) Protecting the samples until they are analyzed.
The first of these requirements, obtaining a sample which is truly
representative of the wastestream, may be the source of significant errors.
This is especially apparent in the case of "grab" or non-composited
samples.
vary within a given stream at any single time due to a partial settling of
suspended solids or the floating of light materials.
velocities next to the walls of the flow channel, materials will tend to
deposit in these areas.
sampling in sewer systems are limited, numerous ideal locations are not
usual.
The usual method for accounting for variations in flow and waste
constituents and minimizing the analytical effort is by compositing the
samples.
together (before analysis), the results which are obtained will be similar
to taking a sample from a completely-mixed tank which had collected all the
flow from the stream in question.
24
F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
simplified, for in most cases the variations in pumping rate are minor
and can either be calculated from the pump curves, or by calibrating pumps.
Sampling under these systems involves using time-operated solenoid valves
which open for a brief interval every minute or so.
attached to the pump motors so that samples are taken only when the
effluent is being pumped.
Once the samples have been obtained, analysis procedures should be
initiated as soon as practical.
during the washing steps and at plant clean-up as noted by the heavy
arrows.
throughout the fruit and vegetable industries, an attempt has been made to
group the commodity oriented industry according to BOD strength of the
wastewater.
industry.
The table has been grouped by the following formula:
Group I
Group II
25
F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Table 1.
26
F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
Figure 10.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
29
F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
NOTE;
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F&V SPNOFF/WW CHARACTERIZATION
References
CH2M Hill, Corvallis, Oregon. 1976. Wastewater Treatment - Pollution
Abatement in the Fruit and Vegetable Industry. Prepared for Food
Processors Institute and Sponsored by Office of Technology Transfer,
Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA. 1976.
Grants Programs.
32
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
sideration has been given to water reuse because it was cheap and relatively
abundant; reuse was considered hazardous because of bacterial contamination.
This chapter is divided into three major parts. The first portion presents some basic concepts related to controlling water and wastewater.
The
second section presents some case studies which examine various water and
wastewater control methods that have been applied to the processing of several different fruit and vegetable commodities.
reuse and recycling methods in more detail, and presents some commodityspecific information on by-product recovery and use.
CONTROL
OF
WATER
AND
WASTEWATER
SOME
CONCEPTS
The type of waste management system suitable for a food processing operation will depend upon:
the characteristics of the waste
the location of the processing plant
the degree of waste treatment required
available points of discharge for the treated liquid wastes
and for the collected solid wastes.
As with almost all industrial waste situations, a unique waste management
solution may exist for each operation.
One of the first and best approaches to devising a fruit or vegetable
processing waste management system is to investigate the opportunities for
in-field and in-plant modifications.
and in-field techniques that help decrease wastewater strength and reduce
water use.
2)
to offset the minor losses from evaporation. Closed loop systems not only
34
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
conserve water but also reclaim heat and can result in significant economic
savings.
Eliminating water in certain unit operations in turn eliminates attendant problems of treating the wastewaters which were generated by those
operations.
Studies
comparing hot air blanching of vegetables with conventional hot water blanching showed that both the product and environmental quality were improved
by using air.
In a pea proces-
pensive to treat this small flow separately than to mix it with the entire
plant waste flow, and then attempt to treat this much larger volume.
Other modifications to food processing operations for waste product
separation become apparent when a mass balance is conducted at a plant and
when by-product utilization opportunities are available. The development of
dry caustic potato and fruit peeling methods has reduced both the volume and
strength of wastes from these operations.
ing facility, including a water balance and mass balances of product, BOD,
solids, and nutrients can reveal other opportunities for in-plant waste management modifications.
It has been determined that by controlling the pH of fruit fluming
waters using additions of citric acid, it is possible to reduce the flume
water volume without risk of increasing the size of the bacterial population,
thereby avoiding contamination.
is the improved flavor and color of the canned fruit due to better retention
of soluble solids.
Many factors determine the final effectiveness of proper water use. For
example, tomatoes spray-washed on a roller belt where they are turned over
are almost twice as clean as the same tomatoes washed on a belt of wire mesh
construction.
can be used to measure the performance of both management and production workers. By using these techniques, waste handling costs can be reduced, water
conservation and reuse can be enhanced, and savings of raw materials may
result.
Proper management of processing wastes requires consideration of individual operations from harvest through waste disposal as integrated subunits
of the total process.
to avoid bringing wastes from the harvesting fields into the processing plant.
Where possible, preprocessing should be done directly in the field to permit
the return of organic materials to the land,
Remember that in water reuse schemes, a delicate balance exists between
water conservation and sanitation.
to be evaluated in terms of the equipment used in order to arrive at a satisfactory procedure for maintaining product quality while reducing wastage and
water use.
SOME
CASE
STUDIES
The previous section outlined some concepts and the general techniques
which can put those concepts into practice.
36
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
methods for controlling water and wastewater in commodity-specific processes.
CARROT
WASH
PROCESSING
WATER
MODIFICATIONS
RFCYCLING
Washing soil from root vegetables requires a lot of water. One large
fresh carrot supplier in California used about 4,000 gal/min of wash water
in the course of processing 500 T carrots/day the year round.
Because
of
short supplies of water and expensive waste disposal, wash water recycling
became attractive.
From
here, water is pumped for use in fluming the carrots. The flume water is
used for flushing the carrots from the trucks.
the field soil.
stations, where small sizes and misshapen carrots are removed as culls. The
desired sizes are hydrocooled, then sent through a second brush washer, Potable water is sprayed over the carrots in the final section.
Part of the flume water is pumped through a patented, cylindrical, solids-liquid separator.
velocities decrease as solids are spun inward through orifices toward the
center, rather than outward as in conventional cone-shaped cyclone separators.
The cleaned water exits at the top; solids settle to the bottom where they
are continuously flushed out and returned to the settling pond. Trash is
screened out through a stationary curved screen separator before entering
the four centrifugal separators.
gpm total.
Water in the hydrocoolers and in the final sprays is chlorinated at 100
ppm.
Chlorination of these flows, which cycle through the ponds, keeps the
ACHIEVED
37
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Figure 11.
38
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
the soil particles sized 44 microns (325 screen size) or larger. The best
result of all is that there is no waste to treat.
IN-PLANT
CHANGES
RESCUE
CARROT
PROCESSOR
Normal production
is set for two shifts per day with additional clean-up time as needed.
Average throughput is about 8 raw tons per hour.
Figure 12 shows the typical flow diagram that plant A followed before
any process modifications were made.
directly from the fields or from a sorting shed. They were washed, trimmed,
conventionally lye peeled and diced or sliced.
in a water blancher; post blanch cooling was also accomplished using water.
Water use was high, approaching a daily average consumption of 1.5 mgd; BOD
levels were correspondingly high, averaging about 2,400 mg/l.
This plant, landlocked by city growth, was already paying a surcharge
for its effluent disposal to the municipal waste treatment system. The city
recognized that expanded treatment facilities were needed to accommodate industrial users.
WASHING
Water used to wash the incoming carrots had previously been combined
with the main plant effluent stream.
this stream indicated that its chief components were sand and dirt, some
field debris, and occasional carrot particles. Because of the plant's location, it was decided that this stream should be isolated from the streams
with higher waste concentrations and discharged separately under an NPDES
permit.
ed the suspended and settleable solids but also, in part, contributed to reducing the BOD discharge.
39
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Figure 12.
40
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Figure 13.
41
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Table 6.
0.35
MGD
discharqed
under
NPDES
Parameter Differences
42
with this stream.
These two components are responsible for about 60% of the total plant flow about 350,000 gallons per day.
volume to a municipal waste treatment system would have been extremely expensive.
PEELING
The peeling process was identified as the main source of BOD and SS generation.
landfill.
In addition to 'the water use and BOD reductions expected, the equipment
modifications just described were responsible for improving finished product
recoveries for both sliced and diced carrots,
SOLIDS
HANDLING
The original plant flow allowed for trimmings and solid waste
ids and was, in part, responsible for the plant's high BOD. To overcome this
problem, a separate series of dry solids conveyors were installed to transport trimming table and other wastes directly to outside bins. Plant managers also made a concerted effort to instruct plant employees on proper
methods of handling solid waste.
BLANCHING
As shown in Figure 12, this plant had used a hot water blancher for years.
Water blanchers, however, have been shown to be major sources of water pollution.
43
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
heavily to a plant's BOD and SS loads.
water blancher was removed and a steam blancher was installed. Now the only
effluent from this unit process is a highly concentrated l-2 gpm condensate.
The effect on total BOD and SS load has been considerably lessened, yet the
desirable product quality characteristics have been retained.
COOLING
Similarly, post blanch hydrocooling, necessary to prepare carrots for
freezing and to optimize freezer efficiencies, was found to contribute to the
plant's effluent load.
duct leaves the blancher and is blown and vibrated over perforated screens
by the action of air jets blowing through and upward to contact the product.
The action of the air and the mechanical vibrations of the screen move the
product across the screen during which time the required cooling gradient is
achieved.
Using air eliminates almost all water contact after blanching ex-
cept for one or two fine water sprays between the blancher and cooler.
Water
INVESTMENT
The plant estimated that their total expenditures for all the improvements and modifications amounted to about $90,000. Although no attempt was
made to calculate paybacks on investment capital, it can be seen in Table 6
that savings accrued due to reduced discharged volume and pounds of pollutants sent to the city waste treatment system accounts for about $42,000 per
year.
the investment would become even more attractive. The changes just described
were documented in a study by LaConde and Schmidt (1976).
DRY
CAUSTIC
PEELING
developing machinery for such peeling processes. This section will present
the waste and water reduction results that have been achieved by using such
processes.
TOMATOES AND PEACHES
Tomatoes, clingstone peaches and potatoes are the principal target"
commodities at which dry caustic peeling efforts have been aimed. The peeling machine is basically designed to gently remove the peel from soft fruits
and vegetables without using water, and to collect the peel waste residue so
that it does not enter the plant's wastewater effluent. This is done by collection, haulage, and separate disposal of concentrated peeling wastes.
To gently wipe away peel softened by caustic, the machine uses very thin
soft rubber discs.
tle, thorough scrubbing much like wiping the fruit with the palms of the
hands.
A final rinse to remove the last traces of peel and caustic is the only fresh
water used.
water use in the peeling operation was reduced from 850 gal water/ton peaches
to 90 gal water/ton peaches by using the dry peeling process.
In conventional peeling, the peel is pre-softened by contact with dilute sodium hydroxide and then removed from the peach using large volumes of
fresh potable water that comprise high-pressure sprays. Water from this
peeling operation therefore contains essentially all of the removed peel.
Dry caustic peeling in which mechanical rubbing is used to remove the
softened peel was originally developed for the potato processing industry;
however, peeling softer fruit such as peaches required the development of
the new process just described.
Peeling is the largest single source of waste from fruit processing,
accounting for as much as 10 percent of the total wastewater flow and 40
percent of the total biochemical oxygen demand.
45
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
The dry caustic peeling process also allows for collection of the peel
as a pumpable slurry.
Significant pollution parameters can be reduced by approxTable 7 illustrates the average wastewater volumes and
pollution loadings for each process, based on 24-hour composite samples taken
on each of the 21 days of the demonstration period.
Table 8 sununarizes the characteristics of the peach peel solid wastes.
The relatively high pH of the slurry and the low pH of the rinse water indicate that most of the caustic is removed with the peel.
A commercial dry caustic peeler has also been operated successfully on
freestone peaches.
stone (as opposed to clingstone) peaches, since the mechanical action of the
wiper effectively removes bruises and decreases the higher cost of hand inspection associated with freestone peaches.
After having tested dry caustic peeling on peaches, Magnuson Engineers,
Inc. decided to try the process on tomatoes. They established that a dry
caustic peeling machine they designed would also very effectively peel caustically-treated tomatoes.
Tomatoes peel very differently from peaches. Much stronger caustic solutions are required and caustic-compatible wetting agents must be used.
While the tomato surface beneath the skin is attacked by the caustic, the
skin itself remains intact and dislodges as sheets of tissue.
Other types
flush away these skins and hand labor is required to finish the skin removal.
The dry caustic peeler that has been used on peeling tomatoes removes
substantially 100% of the peel at capacities of 8 to 10 tons per hour without using any wash water.
46
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Table 7.
Comparison of the Average Liquid Effluent from the Del Monte Dry
Caustic Demonstration Project with Conventional Caustic Peeling
47
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
BOD
REDUCTION
In both the tomato and peach peeling operations, the dry caustic peeler
collects and delivers a full strength, essentially undiluted peel waste sludge.
Since the peel waste is a major source of BOD, it is highly desirable to keep
this peel waste out of a plant's wastewater.
that discovered that peel wastes accounted for 60% of the total plant BOD
load in a peach cannery and 35% of the total BOD load in a tomato cannery.
The plants comprising that study were generally typified by California processing methods.
wastewater is very expensive, both in terms of the plant investment for wastewater treatment facilities and the facilities' operating costs.
It is now
widely acknowledged that preventing wastes from entering the plant effluent
is an excellent method for precluding wastewater treatment costs.
This is
PRODUCT
RECOVERY
Smith (1976) also noted that a California tomato processor who was using
four dry peeling machines reported an increased product recovery of 2.5 cases
per ton.
losses made possible by the dry peeling units. The same processor also noticed a 44.7% reduction in the amount of caustic consumption as a result of
installing the dry peelers.
cal wiping action of the-rubber discs can do an effective job while exposing
the tomatoes to less caustic.
is not used during peel removal, the loss of tomato solids which in conventional peelers are normally carried away by the wastewater, is eliminated.
SOME
BY-PRODUCT
POSSIBILITIES
Now that the mechanics of dry caustic peeling have been proven, much
attention is being focused on the handling and disposal of peel waste sludge.
So far, this sludge has been disposed of by spreading on land; sometimes it
has been spread on pasture land where cattle are feeding.
As this sludge material becomes available in greater quantities, possible uses for it will arise.
Tomato peel waste offers promise for use as a by-product. The peel
48
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
waste has a higher solids content than pureed whole tomatoes, because it is
made up entirely of material from the outer cell walls of the tomatoes. This
material is the most highly colored portion of the tomato, so it is very high
in desirable red pigment.
but this can be neutralized with hydrochloric acid (HCl) and converted to
common table salt (NaCl) and water.
anyway, so it's very likely that the tomato peel fraction can be processed
into high quality tomato products for human consumption.
LEAFY-GREENS
WASH
WATER
RECYCLE
per unit weight of product range from 50% of the total water requirement of
3 to 5 gal/lb necessary for complete processing, to 73% of a total 1.1 to
1.5 gal/lb cited elsewhere for complete processing requirements.
One obvious way to conserve water in a greens-washing operation is to
modify the system in some way to-permit recycling of the wash water itself.
Of course the chief concern is that the recycled water be of good enough
quality throughout the period of use to insure against degradation of the
product quality beyond acceptable limits.
To learn more about effects of water recycling on product quality, two
full-scale, immersion-type washers that would permit wash water recycling
during greens-washing operations, were designed and evaluated in a study
whose description follows.
The washers' performances were monitored during five trials, four when
collard greens were being processed and one when spinach was being processed.
THE
PROCESS
DESCRIPTION
Two washers were designed to wash 4,000 lbs of product per hour. The
bottoms were comprised of three sections, each V-shaped to facilitate the
49
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
collection and removal of grit when the washers were drained,
The maximum
depth in each washing tank was 3 ft., and the nominal capacity of each was
688 gallons.
drums propelled the product through the washer, alternately submerging and
releasing it. Insects and leaf fragments floated to the surface inside each
drum while the product was submerged, while water, forcefully dispensed
through a stationary bank of three spray nozzles (positioned inside each
drum), prevented leaves from becoming entangled in the expanded metal covering and provided additional cleaning. An exit conveyor - - made of an openmesh, plastic belting with flights every 2 ft - - carried product out of each
washer.
Water and floating trash that collected inside the rotating drums flowed
out of the washers through surface side-drains into a trough leading to a box
containing a submersible sump-pump.
end of the conveyor were directed upward through the belt across its width to
force trash into the collection box.
tank was 718 gal, and provided a detention time of about 7 min for grit to
settle when the recirculation rate was 100 gpm.
Fresh, chlorinated water was added to the system at only one point: the
second settling tank.
first settling tank.
Flow meters
50
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
rates, which could be controlled by opening or closing gate valves through
each washer-settling tank system.
ous stage recorders and were calibrated so that depth of flow through the
flumes could be converted to volume flow rates.
The researchers concluded that the experimental washing system, as a
whole, performed well during the four trials using collards and the one
using spinach.
the washers did deteriorate as more and more greens were processed, cleaning
of the greens while they passed through the system was always evident. Reduction of bacterial population densities on the greens were observed in all
five trials, probably because chlorine residuals were maintained at high
levels and because of a detergent action in the wash water induced by dissolved organic compounds leached from the vegetables.
Conclusions from this study were:
1)
51
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
solids concentrations occurred at concentrations of 57
mg/l. The magnitudes of the solids concentrations probably reflect the fact that there was considerable turbulence in the settling tanks because of the high recirculation rates within the system, and because the lighter
particulates (clay and small leaf fragments, e.g,) did
not settle well.
6) The average concentrations of COD and BOD5 in waste water
being discharged from the system at the end of the trials
were similar to those in weak municipal sewage. When
collards were processed, COD values averaged 356 mg/l and
BOD values average 80 mg/l. When spinach was washed, COD
values averaged 211 mg/l while BOD values averaged 46 mg/l.
7)
QUICK
BLANCHING
(IQB)
Preparing vegetables for preservation by canning, freezing, or dehydration results in large volumes of high-strength organic waste streams. For
the purpose of reducing total plant effluent and BOD, attention has been
focused on the blanching operation.
cluding:
removing tissue gasses
inactivating or activating enzymes
reducing microbial load
cleaning the product
wilting the tissue to facilitate packing.
These objectives are accomplished by heating the vegetables in either hot
water or steam.
high in BOD, and both result in loss of water soluble nutrients, A report
based on a study of two Wisconsin canning plants stated that a 90% reduction
in blancher effluent volume would reduce total plant waste flow by 10 to 20%,
52
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
and would reduce total plant BOD production by 20 to 50%. In an effort to
approach
these
which would produce a wastewater flow of 10% of that from a commercial hot
water
blancher.
EQUIPMENT
DESCRIPTION
The IQB unit used in the study consisted of two insulated chests, one
heated by direct steam and the other heated indirectly. The IQB's capacity
was about 300 lbs/hr.
chamber allowed the mass average temperature of the product to reach desirable
blanching
temperatures.
until
blanching
was
accomplished.
into 303 x 407 cans to a given fill weight, brine and hot water were added,
and the cans were sealed.
were conducted on the product which was dried by a 5 to 20% weight reduction
in an alternating upflow-downflow hot (160-180F) air dryer.
The effluent from the IQB blancher was collected and analyzed for BOD,
total
solids,
suspended
CONCLUSIONS
OF
THE
IQB
STUDY
The results of this study indicate that IQB can be used successfully for
blanching vegetables prior to their canning.
results
include:
53
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
2)
SEQUENCE
FOR
TOMATO
PEEL
REMOVAL
A new process for commercial tomato peeling uses only heat and water,
both of which can be recycled.
amounts of heated caustic (lye).
PROCESSING
Tchobanoglous et al. (1976) studied the effects of some in-cannery process modifications on reducing water use and waste at Hickmott Foods, Inc.,
a small independent tomato cannery.
FLOW
REDUCTION
The two principal components of the wastewater produced during the 1973
54
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
and 1974 tomato canning seasons were the process water and the water from the
evaporators and retorts (see Table 9).
is derived primarily from the municipal water supply; the water used to cool
the evaporators and retorts is filtered San Joaquin River water.
Several steps were taken between 1973 and 1974 to reduce the quantity of
water used by the cannery and to reduce the wastewater flow rates.
The cool-
ing water was analyzed and found to be suitable for direct discharge to the
river (COD less than 50 mg/l) after cooling.
from the waste stream reduced the flow requiring treatment from 3.1 million
gal/day to 1.14 million gal/day, while cannery production increased 20%.
The installation of four dry peel removal machines reduced the total
water needed for peeling from 306 to 124 gal/min. The quantity of peel sludge
produced dropped from 150 to 25 gal/min while cannery production increased 20%.
This reduced volume* of peeling sludge made it possible to isolate this material and process separately.
All low pressure-high volume washdown hoses were removed and a high pressure hose system with nozzles that shut off upon release was installed. This
change resulted in a washdown flow reduction of at least 80 gal/min (see Table
9). As low pressure hoses were usually left to run on the floor, the reduction was probably somewhat larger.
high pressure spray as it was harder to control, but they eventually became
accustomed to using these nozzles.
cooled before discharge to the river, the amount of river water that required
filtering and chlorination for use in the can washing system was also reduced.
ORGANIC
WASTE
REDUCTION
The quantity of raw tomato constituents present in the process wastewater was reduced from the 1973 to 1974 season by modifications in the peeling operation and floor waste management.
Dry Peeling.
Dry caustic peeling, using rotating rubber discs to mechanically rub peel from
55
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
Table 9.
56
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
tomatoes dipped in sodium hydroxide, replaced the conventional water rinse
peeling operation.
Through a combination
of reducing the peeler speed (resulting in more tomatoes per bucket but a
longer contact time with the caustic per tomato) and using mechanical peeling, it was possible to use a caustic solution of 7 to 10% in 1974 as opposed to an 18 to 20% solution in 1973.
caustic sludge can also make the possibility of product recovery more practicable.
Dry caustic mechanical peeling requires about 80 gallons of potable
water per ton of tomatoes as opposed to 720 gal/ton using conventional methods.
duced the BOD load on the water pollution control plant by 46%.
Floor Waste Management. Because tomatoes are, for the most part, a water
soluble fruit, the longer they remain on the cannery floor or in a wastewater
conveyance facility, the greater the amounts of tomato solids and juices contributing to the soluble COD and BOD of the wastewater.
If processing wastes
are picked up in solid form they can be fed to livestock or at least disposed
of as solid wastes.
Reliable solid waste per ton of data were not available for the
1973 season but it was estimated that considerably more solid waste was used
for cattle feed during the 1974 season.
IMPROVEMENTS
THAT
WILL
LEAD
TO
REDUCE
WATER
USE
reduce the peak water use in the cannery to between 750 and 800 gal/min.
This quantity is considered to be the minimum water use possible for maintaining sanitary conditions.
WATER
RECYCLE
WITH
OFF-LINE
MUD
REMOVAL
Most of
the soil accumulated in the initial flumes or bin dumps. Flow velocities
within the bin dumps were insufficient to scour settled soil solids from the
base. The resulting accumulation of soil in the bin dump eventually impaired
product flow and required processing downtime to remove.
There are two widely practiced procedures for alleviating the accumulation of soil in the bin dump.
from the bin dump, this overflow discharging to the plant's sewer system.
The second procedure involves processing downtime to drain off excess liquids
and to hand shovel the accumulated soil into an adjacent receptacle.
Several-adverse impacts result from the current procedure for handling
bin dump mud.
In the case of the high overflow rates, the excess water used
adds to the hydraulic surcharge to the sewer system from this seasonal industry. The high soil loadings discharged to municipal treatment systems result
in operation and maintenance problems.
periodically shutting down the bin dump to remove accumulated soil, the time
requirements for processing a given tonnage of tomatoes are extended, resulting in reduction of the plant's productivity. This, in turn, results in
further excess water use through the down-time period and for the additional
required clean-up and washdown.
During the 1974 processing season, a study by Wilson, et al. (1976) was
undertaken to evaluate alternative water recycle system configurations.
Bin
dump model studies were then undertaken in the spring of 1975 to develop design data on an efficient system for intercepting soil solids in the bin dump
and transporting them to a solids removal system without interfering with
product flow.
The objective of the '75 season tomato water recycle project was to demonstrate a water recycle system which when used in conjunction w ith a normal
bin dump operation, would significantly reduce the adverse impacts associated.
with current practices.
ed. The recycled water was used to maintain adequate scouring velocities
within the bin dump without detrimentally affecting product flow. A solids
58
F&V SPNOFF/CONTROL OF WATER & WW
removal system was constructed within the closed loop to remove the settleable
solids and thereby prevent their accumulation within the bin dump. This recycle system was expected to eliminate excessive water use related to high bin
dump overflow rates, as well as those rates related to clean-up down-time and
extended operational period for processing a given tonnage of tomatoes.
The researchers investigated four modes of operation aimed at minimizing
wastewater-related costs.
was realized with the disc cleaner combined with water recycle and chemical
flocculation.
With the water recycle measures implemented, the soil solids removed from the dump tank per tonnage of tomatoes
processed were significantly reduced; the soil solids lost
to the sewer per tonnage of tomatoes processed were reduced
substantially.
2)
3)
Efficient clarification of the thickener overflow required surface loading rates of less than 1,000 gpd/ft2.
Approximately one-half of the gravity settleable soil
solids overflowed from the thickener at surface loading
rates of 2,000 gpd/ft2.
Using performance parameter values found in this study, it was demonstrated that installation and operation of an in-plant water recycle system
with off-line mud removal, would result in about a 50% savings in the total
annual wastewater-related costs.
Liptak, B. G.
Loehr, R. C.
ches.
3)
1974.
Dry Caustic Peeling of Clingstone Peaches, Capsule Report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Industrial Demonstration Grant with Del Monte
6)
Corporation.
Smith, T. J.
1976.
Changes in Organic and Inorganic Constituents of
Hoehn, R. C. et al.
December, 1976.
Heat-cool sequence for tomato peel removal. Picks and Packs. Technical
Notes for the California Fruit and Vegetable Processing Industry. Cooperative Extension, University of California.
9)
Tchobanoglous, G.
March, 1978.
Wilson, G. E. et al.
moval.
Wastes.
11)
Liquid Wastes from Canning and Freezing Fruits and Vegetables. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Research Series.
12060 EDK 08/71. August, 1971.
12)
Mercer, W. A.
Control. 1971.
13)
Kamm, R. et al.
61
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
RECYCLING
AND
REUSE
OF
PROCESSING
WASTEWATERS
Sources
of
Potable
Water
water comes directly under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Food processing plants must use water that is of potable quality.
Potable water must also be used for cleaning all equipment which contacts
the foods.
a food processor must know exactly what qualities the state expects of a
Please turn to Chapter 5 of the Core
to
Recycling
and
Reuse
from one or more unit processes, and then using that effluent as the
influent for other unit processes.
matching the effluent from one unit process with the influent requirements
of another unit process.
account the effluent's quantity and quality when examining the source
requirements of prospective processes.
62
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
Legal Aspects of Water Reuse
Water rights and related laws are under nationwide review. Scientists, economists and lawyers are evaluating current and future use of out
water resources; constitutional rights as well as individual state laws may
be involved before the present systems of water regulations can be applied
to multiple-use water.
Reusing water is not a new concept.
percent of the population presently reuses water. The intake water supply
pipe of one city is often downstream from the discharge sewage pipe of
another metropolis, and coastal municipalities have no choice but to commingle supply and wastewaters when tidal conditions return the sewage
effluents into the water supply storage reservoir.
streams is not only subjected to the laws of each user state but is also
under regulations and control by federal authorities.
Two basic systems of water law in the United States include riparian
and appropriation.
the common-law doctrine of riparian rights. Areas sparse in water resources found the first users and statutory prior appropriation doctrine
more suitable.
should consult the stream classifications and standards that govern water
purity in the state within which wastewater is to be reused.
Public Health Aspects of Wastewater Reclamation
Decision to reuse renovated wastewater for human consumption or in
processes that normally require potable water (i.e., food processing), must
be equated with potential health risk and hazards. The U.S. Public Health
Service in a policy statement believes that renovated wastewater is not
suitable for drinking water when other sources are available.
Reclamation Methods
Water is absolutely necessary in food processing, and by practicing
conservation, reuse and recycling, the amount of liquid waste and conse-
63
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
quently the pollution load from food processing operations can be reduced.
Reduction of water use through reuse of the same water can pay significant
dividends in improving a waste disposal situation. Water reuse is beneficial because water is no longer a free commodity; it costs money to
procure water; it costs money to pump water; and it costs money to dispose
of water.
Food processing waters cannot be reused indiscriminately. Their
recirculation in contact with food products must allow satisfactory product
and plant sanitation.
was measured in terms of the percent reduction in water use per ton of
product processed.
When product
wash waters were recirculated, water use was reduced by 16%. Recirculation
of can cooling water added a 22% reduction.
cessing these water reuses allowed a total water use reduction of 38%. When
tomatoes were being processed, reuse of the excess water from the
evaporative condenser system to wash product allowed a total overall
reduction of 45% in water use/ton of product.
Water is best saved by reducing its rate of consumption. Industries
that routinely monitor their water usage and their waste effluent flows
have been able to reduce the in-house uses of water by as much as 50%.
Unfortunately, some water managers consider renovated wastewater to be
acceptable only as a last resort alternative.
64
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
real importance of wastewater as being potentially the most economical
choice available as a source of water.
Wastewater treatment and renovation can exist in varied forms. Direct
reuse occurs in canneries when counterflow untreated streams are used
stepwise.
condensate and divert contaminated milk and water vapors to the sewer in
case of a malfunction.
Salvageable Food Fractions
Food wastes found in water can consist of particulate matter, dissolved solids and fats - either as an emulsion or in a free-floating state.
Both the food and the water quality have an influence on deciding whether
or not the salvaged fractions gathered from wastewater are suitable for
human or animal consumption.
these materials become a treatment burden, at some cost to a waste treatment system.
suitable for cleaning in place are most attractive (as contrasted with
65
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
Fig. 14.
Because the
vacuum pan is subjected to a high vacuum through the air ejector system,
milk boils at low temperature that rarely climb higher than 15OoF. Milk
vapors change back to water, which collects against the cold condenser
tubes.
66
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
batch methods) for both short-term and long-term goals. Careful planning
with well-defined objectives is required to create resources from wastes.
Toward the end of this text you will find a section entitled "By-Product
Recovery Use."
schemes.
Recovery of Chemicals
While cleaning chemicals in waste matter often cause toxicity and poor
performance of the biological treating processes, they also represent a BOD
demand.
BOD5/lb of substance.
to reservoirs that can store and feed the cleaning solutions. Clean-inplace (C.I.P.) circuits can be designed to reuse fluids that are circulated
by pumping through pipelines, bulk tanks, storage reservoirs and other
media.
Waste-
67
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
68
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
o treatment cost of recycling water is less than the initial
cost of water, plus the cost incurred in discharging the
effluent into the sewer.
o cost of treating the effluent to a required standard is
such that, for a little extra investment, the water quality
can be made suitable for recycling.
The practice of water reuse can be divided into sequential reuse,
recirculation without treatment and recirculation with treatment.
Sequential reuse is the practice of using a given water stream for two or
more processes or operations before final treatment and disposal, i.e., to
use the effluent of one process as the input to another.
Recirculation is
Alternatives available
fruit, unless 40% of the water is exchanged each hour, the growth rate of
bacteriological organisms becomes extremely high. In order to overcome
this, other means of control, such as chlorination, must be used. When
chlorination is discontinued, the bacterial count more than doubles. As
soon as chlorination is resumed, the bacterial counts are again brought
under control.
Water conservation can be achieved through counterflow reuse systems.
Figure 15 outlines a counterflow system for reuse of water in a pea
cannery. At the upper right, fresh water is used for the final product wash
before the peas are canned, and from this point the water is reused and
carried back in successive stages for each preceding washing and fluming
69
F&V SPNOFF/WATER USE & REUSE
70
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
Fig. 15. Four-stage counterflow system for reuse of water in a pea cannery.
Key:
71
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
operation. As the water flows countercurrent to the product, the washing
and fluming water can become more contaminated; therefore, it is extremely
important (Fig. 15) to add chlorine in order to maintain satisfactory
sanitation.
With
taken within a plant to conserve water, thus enabling the liquid waste
disposal system to operate more efficiently and thereby reduce water
pollution.
The system
not only reduces the total volume of water required and therefore the
amount of wastewater discharged, but also increased the product yield as a
result of decreasing the loss of solids from leaching of sugar and acids.
Consequently, there is a reduction in the total pounds of organic pollutants in the wastewater.
72
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
product.
Each case and each food process has to be evaluated with the
For
73
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
being discharged directly to receiving bodies of water, whereas contaminated waste streams have to be treated.
As a general rule, all plants should be provided with three water
discharge systems, namely 1) storm and cooling water, 2) sanitary waste,
and 3) industrial waste.
The stormwater system should receive all surface and storm runoff.
This system can also be used for discharging uncontaminated waters, such as
cooling waters, that require no treatment prior to discharge. Although it
is desirable to keep uncontaminated wastewater out of the treatment plant,
the cost of installing separate collection systems for small, isolated
streams may be so high that by-passing the treatment plant becomes uneconomical.
The sanitary system should collect the wastewaters from all washrooms
and shower rooms.
collects peels and caustic as a dry and semidry residue, thus preventing
their entrance into plant wastewaters.
74
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
effluents before reuse in other units, or by combining a few or all effluents, treating them and reusing the water.
Incentives for water reuse involves the possibilities of reduction of
wastewater treatment costs and raw water costs.
treatment costs currently provide the major savings from reuse, in some
areas the supply of acceptable raw water is decreasing, the price is
rising, and reduced raw water usage may provide a significant incentive in
the future.
Closed water
systems as the final goal of pollution research has long been an ideal.
Even though total reuse may not be legally required, it may be a viable
alternative to meeting stringent discharge regulations.
Possible steps for proceeding toward an intermediate or total reuse
system are:
o Determine the effluent qualities and quantities and
makeup requirements for plant units. A waste stream
survey is a must for such an analysis.
o Study the lowest-cost treatments needed for various
effluents to reach the required qualities of secondary
users. Trends have been toward treatment of combined
waste streams. Segregation of waste streams may offer
better reuse possibilities.
o Reduce wastewater volumes by increased maintenance and
equipment modifications can reduce flows significantly.
o Study the effects of reuse on existing treatment equipment
because water reuse generally results in a lower volume,
more concentrated waste stream.
Commitment to total reuse requires an economic justification
covering the expected future costs of fresh water and ultimate waste
disposal.
75
F&V SPNOFF/RECYCLING & REUSE OF FD PROC WW
and the cost for ultimate disposal may gradually decrease as technology
improves.
reuse will be able to economically treat only a small waste stream for
total removal of contaminants.
The decision of whether to implement total reuse will be set by a
comparison of costs of raw water and water treatments with and without
discharges.
The
Water Pollution.
3) Morresi, A. C., et al. 1978.
for Wastewater Reuse.
76
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
BY-PRODUCT
RECOVERY
AND
USE
Introduction
Food processing plants inherently tend to generate significant
quantities of waste material.
From
Potatoes
screening and dewatering, go to the "tate meal" dryer for drying and
subsequent sale as animal feed.
normal silage to provide the same amino acid level as other conventiona
protein sources.
This system is said to be best applicable to wet food processing
operations, where high concentrates of soluble solids with a corresponding
high level of biological oxygen demand (BOD) are present. Estimated
protein output is one pound of protein for every 2 pounds of dissolved
solids converted to SCP yeast.
expected production.
77
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
Size of treatment system is another consideration. Where a land
disposal operation takes many acres, and even a settling pond, with primary
and secondary treatment plants taking nearly as many acres as do
conventional activated sludge water treatment systems, the SCP system fills
the corner of a warehouse, taking up little more space (about 2,000 sq ft)
than the processing equipment that comprises the unit, less than one
hundredth the space occupied by any of the more traditional systems.
Scrap
Potato
to
Molasses
losing about 120 tons of tomato constituents per day in the form of caustic
peeling sludge.
78
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
Figure 16.
79
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
BTU's From Olive Pits
Every weekday at Lindsay Olive Growers plant, Lindsay, CA, about 27
tons of pits pour from the ripe olive-pitting machines. This continues
seven or eight months a year.
could supply part of the 450,000 lb of steam per day needed in the
two-shift plant operation.
section into a fluidized bed of sand heated to 1,400F. A gas flame heats
the sand at start-up; after two to three hours, the pits themselves furnish
the 1,400oF heat, and the burners shut off.
The fluidized-bed furnace started up in January, 1977 with minimum
mechanical difficulties.
agricultural wastes, such as peach and apricot pits, and almond shells from
nearby plants.
Pits furnish about 25% of the steam used by the plant. The cost of
hauling and disposing of pits is eliminated. There is no soot produced at
the high burning temperatures and no air pollution problem.
Payout on the installation through savings of fuel and haulage costs
is difficult to determine because of the rapidly r ising cost of fuel oil,
but the unit is expected to make a good profit.
80
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
References
Dry Caustic Peeling of Clingstone Peaches. Capsule Report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Industrail Demonstration Grant with Del Monte
Corporation.
Sanitation and
Heat-cool sequence for tomato peel removal. 1978. Picks and Packs.
Technical Notes for the California Fruit and Vegetable Processing
Industry.
EPA/600-2-76-304, December.
Loehr, R. C. 1974.
Approaches.
Mercer, W. A. 1971.
Materials.
AE Update.,
81
F&V SPNOFF/BY-PRODUCT RECOV & USE
Robe, K., Associate Editor. 1977.
Food
Processing, May.
Smith, T. J. 1976.
EPA-600/2-76-304, December.
82
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
W A S T E W A T E R
T R E A T M E N T
Pretreatment
The pretreatment of food processing wastewaters is commonly
associated with discharges to a municipal waste treatment system.
The
In addition to
83
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Alternatives
It is an obvious economic fact that before any food processor
undertakes the task of building a pretreatment facility for discharge to a
municipal sewer, pays a municipal charge for wastewater treatment, or
builds a complete treatment plant for discharge to a receiving stream that
he must initiate in-plant waste saving practices, along with water
recycling and reuse measures.
While toxic substances are not commonly associated with fruit and
vegetable type process waste streams, certain wastes are present that are
not amenable to treatment and can cause obstruction and maintenance
requirements.
can occur which could, and frequently do, reduce the ability of the
municipal's waste treatment system to adequately treat the added waste.
Should this happen with regularity, then the food processor may be faced
with a problem of pretreatment or supporting a municipal waste treatment
plant modification or expansion program.
what his sewer costs are, he can calculate the cost of the added sewage
treatment load and determine whether the projected cost could better be
handled by pretreatment or financially supporting a municipal expansion
program.
Cost Considerations
Inherent in modification or expansion of a municipal's waste treatment facility is the federal requirement (if federal grant money is used)
that should these activities include treatment capacity for industrial
wastewaters, then some form of industrial cost recovery system must be
84
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
established.
users may be 50 percent of the water bill, including flow from private
water supplies.
for suspended solids, another for grease, others for other factors. These
multipliers are then added together to establish a single multiplier to be
applied to the flow base charge to arrive at the total bill.
An example of the cost formulation as developed by the Federal EPA and
used as a general guideline is as follows:
Ci=voVi+boBi+soSi
where Ci = charge to industrial users, dollars per year
V O = average unit cost of transport and treatment chargeable to
volume, per gallon
bo = average unit cost of treatment, chargeable to BOD, dollars
per pound
s o = average unit cost of treatment (including sludge treatment)
chargeable to suspended solids, dollars per pound
V i = volume of wastewater from industrial users, gallons per year
B i = weight of BOD from industrial users, pounds per year
S i = weight of suspended solids from industrial users, pounds per
year
85
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Note:
No guidelines
pursuant to the act have been developed at this time. However, the
decision to provide extensive pretreatment for discharge to a municipal
sewer system or to separate and treat the plant's wastewater should be
based upon a thorough, after-tax analysis of the costs involved.
Evaluating Needs
After the plant has been surveyed completely, and all possible waste
conservation and water reuse systems have been identified, the necessary
pretreatment system must be designed and the cost estimated. Those parts
of the treatment attributable to flow (such as grease basins and dissolved
air flotation) should be totaled and reduced to a cost per 1,000 gallons.
Similar breakouts in cost per pound can be carried out for grease,
suspended solids, and BOD.
Then each major in-plant expense for waste conservation and water
recycle and reuse can be evaluated, based on the estimated reduction in
flow, BOD, suspended solids, and grease.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
volatile solids, settleable solids, pH, temperature and FOG. A permanent
flow-measuring and composite-sampling arrangement are warranted if sampling
is done regularly to determine municipal surcharges.
Most common pretreament practices will include flow equalization,
neutralization and the separation of floatables and settleable solids. In
some instances lime and alum, ferric chloride, or a selected polymer may be
added to enhance separation.
tanks or the tank may be a simple steel or concrete tank, often without a
cover.
Removal of floatables and suspended matter will provide a satisfactory
means of reducing BOD concentrations.
will reduce the waste load sufficiently to comply with municipal sewer use
ordinance limitations.
87
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Treatment
Alternatives
to
Meet
Regulations
Table 12
For
Common
88
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 12.
89
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
in mechanical action and in mesh size.
quiescent state for the raw wastewater are important design considerations.
Temperature variation of the wastewater is another important consideration
because of the development of heat convect on currents and the potential
interference with marginal settling particles.
accomplished with this unit process through removal of the surface scum.
A more complete treatment of the fruit and vegetable processing
wastewaters can be achieved through biological assimilation.
Frequently
used systems, after suspended solids removal, are: treatment in an anaerobic lagoon followed by an aeration lagoon and stabilization-polishing pond;
activated sludge system; aerated lagoon followed by a stabilizationpolishing pond; trickling filters, utilizing plastic media, and rotating
biological contractors; with land application used as an effluent polishing
technique.
Treatment
of
Fruit
and
Vegetable
Processing
Wastewaters
Table 13 which defines the unit process, its order of use in the waste
treatment sequence and the expected waste reduction performances by these
unit processes.
Anaerobic Lagoons
Anaerobic lagoons may be used as a primary biological process in
order to reduce the organic and solids loadings on aerobic biological
processes which may be more expensive to operate. The lagoons are usually
2.4 to 6.1 meters deep with 3:l side slopes. In most cases, the detention
time is between 5-25 days and the lagoons are designed for high surface
loadings, 34 to 112 g,BOD5/day/m2.
90
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 13.
91
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
The operation depends on the activity of anaerobic bacteria which
degrade organic materials in the absence of oxygen to form organic acids,
methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. The reaction is
relatively slow, with an optimum temperature of approximately 33 to 35oC.
However, there are a number of advantages:
1.
2.
Ease of operation.
3.
No energy consumption.
4.
5.
6.
Odors may occur periodically but this problem can be minimized by good
management.
Table 14.
The ponds must be designed with sufficient sludge storage capacity
such that sludge removal is required only infrequently. Treatability
studies are recommended to assess sludge accumulation rates for design
purposes.
The anaerobic process can be enhanced by the construction of enclosed,
well mixed reaction systems.
tanks, anaerobic contact tanks (0.12 to 0.5 days' detention time), air or
vacuum gas stripping units, and a clarifier with sludge recirculation
pumps.
recycle rate equal to 30% of the average daily flow to achieve BOD5 and
suspended solids removals of 90 to 97%. Methane gas produced in the
process can be collected and burned.
high but the units are suitable for installations where odor emissions
cannot be tolerated and where insufficient land is available for the
installation of anaerobic ponds.
92
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 14.
93
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Aerobic Lagoons
Aerobic lagoons or stabilization ponds are the most common
biological treatment system used in the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry.
The type of lagoons used are seasonal retention ponds, aerobic
stabilization ponds, and aerated lagoons.
retention storage ponds; the wastes can then be treated aerobically during
the spring prior to discharge.
Aerobic stabilization ponds are utilized where land is readily available.
94
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Typical BOD5 removal efficiencies for fruit and vegetable wastes
are given in Table 15.
Facultative Ponds
Facultative ponds are usually 0.9 to 1.8 meters deep. The processes
involved in aerobic stabilization ponds occur in the upper layers of
facultative ponds.
The ponds are between 2.4 and 4.6 meters deep, with 2
2.
95
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 15.
96
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 16.
97
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Loading rates for aerated lagoons vary considerably and are determined by
rigorous laboratory or pilot scale testing carried out on the raw waste.
Specific BOD removal rates for given commodities in an aerated lagoon
under completely mixed conditions are given in Table 17. Aerated lagoons
achieve good BOD5 removal.
are usually high and therefore aerated lagoons are usually followed by
quiescent settling to reduce the concentration of solids.
Trickling Filters
Trickling filters, utilizing plastic media in columns 4.5 to 6.0
meters high, have been used in the treatment of high strength fruit and
vegetable wastes (3000 to 4000 mg/l BOD5). High liquid recirculation
rates and forced air circulation are used to achieve BOD5 removals up
to 90%.
Wastewater is distributed by rotating arms at constant rates onto the
top surface of packed columns of plastic media. A biological film is
formed on the media and cellular material periodically sloughs-off when the
thickness becomes sufficiently great that oxygen transfer cannot occur
throughout its depth and anerobic conditions develop. Underdrains located
beneath the column transport the effluent to settling tanks where the dense
sludge is separated from the liquid effluent.
98
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 17.
NOTE:
99
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
Table 18.
100
F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
material in the wastewater in the presence of excess dissolved oxygen and
nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus).
Oxygen
is obtained from applied air which also maintains adequate mixing. The
effluent is settled to separate biological solids and a portion of the
sludge is recycled; the excess is wasted for further treatment such as
dewatering.
Activated sludge systems utilized in the fruit and vegetable industry
are the extended aeration types: that is, they combine long aeration times
with low applied organic loadings.
days.
have been achieved, using similar processes for many fruit and vegetable
wastes.
A maximum surface
The activated
sludge reactors and clarifiers are often lined earthen basins rather than
concrete or steel tanks, the former involving lower construction costs.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
These systems are more difficult to operate than lagoon systems or
trickling filters but can consistently produce a specified effluent
quality.
contactors are designed to provide plug flow and the bacterial growth
changes with distance along the contactor.
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F&V SPNOFF/WW TREATMENT
operate, require little maintenance and consume relatively little energy.
At the present time, economic consideration of high capital cost detract
from their widespread use.
References
CH2M Hill, Corvallis, Oregon. 1976. Wastewater Treatment - Pollution
Abatement in the Fruit and Vegetable Industry. Prepared for Food
Processors Institute and Sponsored by Office of Technology Transfer,
Environmental Protection Agency.
Dornbush, J. N., D. A. Rollag and W. J. Trygotad. 1976. Investigation of
an anaerobic-aerobic lagoon system treating potato processing wastes.
IN Proceedings of the Sixth National Symposium on Food Processing
Wastes. EPA - 600/2-76-224, p. 3, December.
Hemphill, B. W. and R. G. Dunnahoe. 1977. Improved Biological Treatment
of Food Processing Wastes with Two-Stage ABF Process. IN Proceedings
Eighth National Symposium on Food Processing Wastes.
EPA-600/2-77-184, p. 235, August.
Mulyk, P. A. and A. Lamb. 1977. Inventory of the Fruit and Vegetable
Processing Industry in Canada - A report for Environmental Canada,
Environmental Protection Service, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Mulyk, P. A. and A. Lamb, of Stanley Associates Engineering Ltd. 1977.
Review of Treatment Technology in the Fruit and Vegetable Processing
Industry in Canada.
103
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
L A N D
D I S P O S A L
Introduction
Food processing wastewaters have been applied to the land through
engineered systems for more than 25 years.
late 1940's with the objective being primarily waste disposal. Since
then, a wide variety of food processing wastewaters has been applied to
the land.
failed and land treatment systems began to acquire a poor public image.
Today's PL 92-500 "zero discharge" goals, however, coupled with improved
understanding of the capabilities and limitations of soil systems have
renewed the interest in using land application.
A 1964 survey resulted in the identification of 844 systems applying
food processing wastewater to the land.
Its
Quality
and
Pretreatment
Requirements
Wastewater Characteristics
The characteristics of food processing wastewaters that must be
considered with regard to land treatment include BOD and COD, suspended
solids (SS), total fixed dissolved solids, nitrogen, pH, temperature, heavy
metals, and the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). These characteristics vary
widely among food processing wastes applied to the land.
104
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
BOD and COD.
wastewater's biodegradability.
readily degradable and exhibit a high BOD to COD ratio. Most soils are
highly efficient biological treatment systems. So, liquid loading rates
for land treatment operations are usually governed by the water holding
capacity of the soil rather than by the organic loading rate.
This
be placed on the land without stressing the soil system. The effects of
organic overloads on the soil include damage to or killing of vegetation,
severe clogging of the soil surface, and leaching of undegraded organics
into the groundwater.
However,
A maximum BOD
rate of 200 lb/acre/day has been suggested as a safe loading rate for pulp
and paper wastewaters.
Wastewaters
with pH below 6.0 have been successfully applied to soils that have a large
105
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
buffering capacity. "Beware of applying caustic wastes before diluting or
neutralizing them.
High temperature wastewaters from cooking
Temperature.
operations can sterilize the soil and prevent growth of cover vegetation.
Heavy Metals.
metals.
applications.
Such lagoons
serve to remove silt and other suspended particles which may contribute to
clogging of the distribution system as well as hasten the clogging of soil
pore space.
This
106
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
provided prior to land application.
Treatment
Processes
characteristics of each 'of the systems are shown in Figure 17. A summary
of the comparative characteristics of the three systems is presented in
Table 19.
Irrigation.
Liquid loading rates generally range from about 0.1 in./day to 0.6
At these loading rates, land requirements range from about 60 to
The availability of
Some irrigation
l07
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Figure 17.
108
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Table 19.
109
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
systems operate with little or no run-off and remove practically all of
the pollutional load (Table 20).
Loamy, well-drained soil is most suitable for irrigation systems,
particularly where crop production is a major goal of the operation.
However soil depth of 5 feet above groundwater is preferred to prevent
saturation of the root zone.
corn, for cover vegetation, but these have only been successful when
standard irrigation practices have been followed.
Cover vegetation plays an important role in irrigation systems. This
is particularly true in spray application systems where the cover
vegetation prevents soil erosion and sealing of the soil surface due to
the battering action of water droplets. The root structure of cover
vegetation also aids in maintaining the infiltrative capacity of the
surface by expanding the soil and promoting dispersion of clogging
materials.
111
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
greater than percolation.
as surface runoff.
U.S.:
Overland Flow
The overland flow technique is an adaptation of spray irrigation to
impermeable or poorly drained soils.
by the Campbell Soup Company at Napoleon, Ohio, and was studied in depth
at the Campbell installation at Paris, Texas.
An overland
112
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Texas) or it may be adapted to flat agricultural land by reshaping the
surface to provide the necessary slopes.
Higher liquid loading rates are possible with the overland flow
technique than with conventional spray irrigation. These rates may range
between 0.25 to 0.7 in./day, resulting in a land requirement of about 50
to 150 acres plus buffer zone for each mgd applied.
As mentioned previously, the system is especially suited to use with
slowly permeable soils such as clays or clay loams.
Reed canary grass or tall fescue has been found to be suitable to the high
liquid loading rates.
Infiltration-Percolation
Infiltration-Percolation systems are characterized by percolation of
most of the applied wastewater through the soil and eventually to the
groundwater.
systems
would require about 60 acres plus a buffer zone for each mgd applied.
The use of recharge or spreading basins for treatment and disposal of
food processing wastewaters has been limited primarily due to the high
organic strength and high solids concentration of typical wastewaters.
These constituents clog the soil surface and make it difficult to maintain
consistently high soil infiltration rates.
113
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Vegetation is essential in high-rate spray systems to protect the
infiltrative surface.
Physical,
In very
Land
Treatment
Systems
is the system of the Idaho Supreme Potato Company in Firth, Idaho. The
distribution system is buried with risers spaced on 80-foot squares
discharging at 80 to 100 psi.
Reed canary grass, meadow foxtail, and alta fescue with the yield of hay
115
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
being 5 tons/acre annually.
vacuum filters with the mud going to lagoons and the filtrate to the spray
fields where it is mixed with screened wastewater from the potato peeling
and cutting operations.
The system
acres with 90 acres planted to water grass and 75 acres planted to Sudan
grass.
rate was in excess of 1.2 inches per day on a clay loam soil. This
application rate was far in excess of the infiltrative capacity of the
soil and the evapotranspiration demand of the cover crop. Therefore
approximately 30 percent of the applied water appeared as runoff. The
runoff was collected and channeled back to the pumping station for
recirculation over the system.
116
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
The flooded condition was partially relieved in 1973 by the addition
of 75 acres of spray field and regrading the existing 90 acres.
resulting loading rate was 0.67 in./day.
The
center pivot irrigation rig which also was too demanding of labor for
maintenance.
through a vacuum filter and the filtrate is pumped 4.5 miles to the site.
In the summer, grass is grown and harvested for hay. In the winter the
50F wastewater melts the snow and ice and percolates into the soil. Some
odors exist and more land is being acquired by the company.
Ridge and Furrow Irrigation.
Whereas Schraufnagel
reported about 50 ridge and furrow systems in 1962, Sullivan reported only
one ridge and furrow system out of the 56 responding to the APWA
questionnaire.
existence by an APWA mail survey are five creameries in Wisconsin and three
food processing plants in Indiana.
Overland and Flow Systems. The overland flow systems described below
are examples of how the system may be adapted to different site conditions.
A list of existing systems with operating characteristics is presented in
Table 22.
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F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
118
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
The Hunt-Wesson Foods cannery in Davis, California, employs the
overland flow technique to treat approximately 3.25 mgd of tomato processing wastewater from July through September, plus smaller volumes of
wastewater from other products during the remainder of the year.
The
required to form the slopes (over 300,000 cu yd) since the site was
originally flat agricultural land. The slopes were planted to a
combination of Reed canary grass, tall fescue, Italian rye grass, and
trefoil with the anticipation that Reed canary grass would eventually
dominate.
with risers spaced at lOO-foot intervals and 65 feet from the top of each
slope.
Spraying is preceeded by coarse screening. The application of
wastewater is controlled automatically by clock timers that actuate
pneumatic valves in the field. During peak season, however, the spray
rotation is controlled manually.
Infiltration-Percolation Systems.
tion-percolation,
These are spreading basins or percolation beds and high rate spraying.
Tri Valley Growers' Plant No. 2 near Modesto, California, is one of
the few processing plants where classical spreading basins are employed
for infiltration-percolation.
generated from the processing of tomatoes, peaches, and pears with the
canning season normally extending from July through September.
The
loading rates have been developed by trial and error, since each basin was
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F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
found to have a different percolation capacity. The differences are due
to hardpan layers in the subsoil.
Applications range
from 50,000 to 500,000 gallons per acre depending on the basin. Each
application is followed by 7 to 10 days of resting. The applications are
regulated to achieve elimination of standing water within 24 hours of the
start of application.
During the summer no cover crop is used on the basins. After each
application the basins are disked to allow the soil to aerate and maintain
its infiltrative capacity. As the season proceeds, the infiltrative
capacity drops somewhat due to clogging by solids in the wastewater.
Following the canning season, the basins are planted to oats which are
harvested in the following spring.
nitrogen that was contained in the wastewater and held in the soil
structure, as well as to restore the infiltration capacity of the soil.
Costs
At present the availability of useful cost data on land treatment
systems is limited.
the APWA report and are supplemented with information on a few systems in
California.
Spray Irrigation
Costs for selected spray irrigation systems are given in Table 23.
Construction costs include costs for pumping stations, force mains, land
preparation, and distribution systems, except as noted, and depend on the
year constructed as well as many local conditions.
separated because of the ir variab ility and are presented in Table 24. In
addition to the cost of land when purchased, the estimated value of the
land in 1972 is included in Table 24.
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F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Table 23.
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F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
legal fees.
The period of operation ranged from 4 months for the Green Giant
must be balanced against the purchase price of the land. For example, the
Libby's system at Gridley did not entail any land preparation costs because
the fields were leveled previously for irrigation. However, the land cost
was $1,400 per acre.
Growers system at Thornton, costs for land preparation and the distribution
system totalled $450 per acre (total construction cost shown in Table 25).
Adding this to the land cost of $870 per acre yields a total of $1,320 per
acre at Thornton, as compared to the $1,400 per acre at Gridley. Of
course, many of the local conditions were different.
However, the
Additional land
In the
midwest region of the United States, except for major metropolitan areas,
land prices vary from $400 to $1,500 per acre. Equipment and installation
costs are as high as $1,000 per acre, the major equipment expense usually
being the piping.
and 6" spiral-wound steel pipe costs about $1.50 per foot, including
connections.
Operating costs include the cost of pumping, maintenance and
operation.
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F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL OF F&V PROCESSING WASTEWATERS
123
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
Overland Flow
Construction cost items for overland flow include earthwork,
pretreatment, transmission, distribution, and collection. Clearing of
land, grading of slopes, and planting is generally equal in cost to the
distribution system.
preparation for two operating systems are given in Table 27. The operating
costs shown are total costs not including the return from the sale of hay.
The return on the sale of hay is approximately 8 to 10 percent of the total
annual operating cost.
Infiltration-Percolation
For infiltration-percolation
Similarly, the
operating costs are lower due also to the high-rate applications and low
land requirements.
The only available land cost was $400 per acre in 1961
and
Potential
of
Land
Application
rural areas the economic advantages of land application will become more
evident.
Land application, however, is not a panacea. Many uncertainties
still remain regarding long-term effects of wastewater on soils, plants,
and groundwater.
124
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
125
F&V SPNOFF/LAND DISPOSAL
locations.
Koo, R. C. J. 1976.
126
F&V SPNOFF/DIRECT DISCH
DIRECT
DISCHARGE
Introduction
Fruit and vegetable processing plants that discharge wastewaters
directly to streams, bays, sounds, rivers, creeks and/or estuaries must
have a permit for this discharge as required under the NPDES permit program.
In most cases, even small plants that have septic tanks for process
Guidelines
and
Limitations
Introduction
In response to widespread public concern about the condition of the
Nation's waterways, Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act Amendments of 1972.
What the 1972 law says, in essence, is that nobody - no city or town,
no industry, no government agency, no individual - has a right to pollute
our water.
under the 1972 law, we must safeguard our waterways even if it means fundamental changes in the way we manufacture products, produce farm crops,
and carry on the economic life of our communities.
Congress declared that the objective of the 1972 law is "to restore
and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the
Nation's waters."
- The law requires EPA to establish national "effluent limitations"
for industrial plants - including fruit and vegetable products plants. An
"effluent limitation" is simply the maximum amount of a pollutant that
anyone may discharge into a water body.
- By July 1, 1977, the law required existing industries to reduce
their pollutant discharges to the level attainable by using the "best
127
F&V SPNOFF/DIRECT DISCH
practicable" water pollution control technology (BPT). BPT was determined
by averaging the pollution control effectiveness achieved by the best
plants in the industry.
- By July 1, 1983, the law requires existing industries to reduce
their pollutant discharges still more - to the level attainable by using
the "best available" pollution control technology (BAT). BAT is based on
utilizing the best pollution control procedures economically achievable.
If it is technologically and economically feasible to do so, industries
must completely eliminate pollutant discharges by July 1, 1983.
- The law requires new fruit and vegetable plants to limit pollutant
discharges to the level attainable by meeting national "standards of
performance" established by EPA for new plants. A new plant must meet
these standards immediately, without waiting for 1977 or 1983. These new
plant standards may require greater reduction of pollutant discharges than
the 1977 and 1983 standards for existing plants. Where practicable, zero
discharge of pollutants can be required. However, for the fruit and
vegetable industry, the standards are equal to the most stringent 1983
standards, with allowance not granted for plant size.
- The law requires fruit and vegetable facilities that send their
wastes to municipal treatment plants - as almost half the do - to make sure
the wastes can be adequately treated by the municipal plant and will not
damage the municipal plant.
plants may thus have to be "pre-treated." That is, the portion of the
industrial waste that would not be adequately treated or would damage the
municipal plant must be removed from the waste before it enters the
municipal system.
The
128
F&V SPNOFF/DIRECT DISCH
national standards are thus minimum requirements that all industries must
meet.
The key to applying the effluent limits to industries - including the
fruit and vegetable industry - is the national permit system created by the
1972 law. (The technical name is the "national pollutant discharge
elimination system," or NPDES.)
Under the 1972 law it is illegal for any industry to discharge any
pollutant into the Nation's waters without a permit from EPA or from a
State that has an EPA-approved permit program. Every industrial plant
that discharges pollutants to a waterway must therefore apply for a
permit.
When issued, the permit regulates what may be discharged and the
amount of each identified pollutant.
effluent from each plant.
(For instance,
129
F&V SPNOFF/DIRECT DISCH
we would gain nothing if, in controlling water pollution, we created a new
air or land pollution problem.)
The proposed regulations were issued by EPA in March, 1974 and October
1975. Then, they were sent to the industry and other interested organizations for review and comments.
Federal Register.
EPA then
Then, EPA issued the final standards for the plants to follow
132
F&V SPNOFF/DIRECT DISCH
plant standard is the same as the 1983 (BAT) standard for existing plants
except that the limitations for the large plants are the new source
standards regardless of plant size. However, regulatory officials shall be
consulted for up-to-date information.
- Does not require zero discharge of any pollutant by a fruit and
vegetable plant.
industry, but the cost would be prohibitive for most if not all plants in
the industry.
- Does not tell companies what technology to use to meet regulations.
The standards only require fruit and vegetable companies to limit pollutant
discharges to the levels required.
In 1978, EPA reviewed the BAT standards in light of Section 304 (b)(4)
of the Clean Water Act which established "best conventional pollutant
control technology" (BCT).
The
results of these studies lead EPA to concluded that BAT regulations were
found to be established from insufficient data and they were recommended to
be suspended.
133
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
MUNICIPAL
DISCHARGE
Introduction
PL 92-500 and PL 95-217 have some subtleties that will increase
costs for your fruit and vegetable plants discharging to municipal systems.
The requirements for industrial cost recovery, user charges and sewer use
ordinances will surely affect many plants.
early as 1907, as late as 1969 only about 10% of United States municipalities collected these charges.
in 1978 although state and federal pressure and encouragement will surely
force most municipalities to draft such an ordinance. Key questions that
must be asked by industrial dischargers is how they can get a reasonable
ordinance that gives both them and the city system protection -- them in
having sewage treatment, at a reasonable cost and the city in preventing
illegal or toxic discharges.
PL 92-500 and EPA require that municipalities institute industrial
cost recovery, a system of user charges and have a sewer use ordinance if
they obtain federal funds for water or wastewater facilities. However, one
must look carefully at exactly what is required.
were modified substantially by PL 95-217.
134
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
Industry should assist in the development of a "practical and sound
regulatory ordinance fitted to local conditions".
meeting and been told that "EPA insists and requires a 28 page document".
There is a difference in what each EPA Regional Administrator requires.
There are seven specific requirements for a sewer use ordinance if Federal
monies are received.
(1) 35.927-4
These include:
Prohibit new connections from inflow sources
into sanitary sewers.
(2) 35.927-4
35.925-11
(3) 35.935-13
X. (1976 a.)
(4) 4.2.2
(1976 a.)
(5) x.
(1976 a.)
(7) 35.905-6
assure 0 + M recovery.
amount allocable to the treatment of their
wastes.
135
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
sewer district board; i.e., the governing body.
are held but everyone must be most observant for the hearing notice.
The study of a proposed sewer use ordinance requires time and
expertise.
136
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
Table 31.
Definitions
Resampling
Mock Bill
Appeal Procedure
Responsible Person
Representative Samples
(wastewater
characteristics)
Pretreatment
137
SEAFOOD SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
Municipal Charges
Muni cipal charges for industrial plants include water, sewer,
surcharge (user charge) and industrial cost recovery.
Most municipalities
Note that
Surcharge . . .
Similarly, the
(Rules &
Reg. 35.905-6)
Surcharges
Surcharges are often included in a sewer use ordinance. However,
they may be included in a separate ordinance.
Surcharges are usually passed because of local government's problems
such as:
(1) Waste treatment costs are rising, (2) More treatment is being
138
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
required, (3) Loads are often increasing, (4) Property tax is already
overburdened, or (5) because the municipality has received federal funds
and is required to institute user charges.
Any food plant should keep careful records about their surcharge
bill.
surcharge bills:
- For which characteristics are you paying
- Do these vary widely
- Does your flow vary widely
- How does your bill compare with similar plants
Careful attention should be paid to the method the city uses for calculating the surcharge.
badly drafted sewer use ordinance is a good lawyer and a friend(s) on the
body responsible for voting on the same.
139
F&V SPNOFF/MUNC DISCH
nances must rally their forces and present a united front.
City managers
It would be to your
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The development of this program and the preparation of the
modules resulted from the collaboration of Drs. Roy E. Carawan, N.C.
State University, James V. Chambers, Purdue University, Robert R. Zall,
Cornell University and Roger H. Wilkowske, SEA-Extension, USDA.
Financial support which supported the development of this project and
the modules was provided by the Science and Education AdministrationExtension, U.S.D.A., Washington, D. C., and the Cooperative Extension
Services of North Carolina, New York and Indiana.
STAFF AND PART-TIME PARTICIPANTS
An Advisory Committee made up of individuals from the food
processing industry, equipment manufacturers, regulatory agencies and
the legal profession assisted in the planning and development of these
materials. The authors appreciate their advice and support.
Much of the information presented in these documents has been
gleaned from the remarks, presentations and materials of others. Their
cooperation and assistance is appreciated.
Ms. Torsten Sponenberg (Cornell University) provided support in
developing several modules and chapters. The authors appreciate her
interest, enthusiasm and dedication.
Ms. Jackie Banks (Cornell University) provided many hours of typing
and proof-reading needed to pull together the wide array of material in
the different documents. The authors appreciate her contributions.
Mr. V. K. (Vino) Chaudhary (Purdue University) provided support in
developing the materials on pretreatment and treatment.
Ms. Cindy McNeill (N. C. State University) provided support in the
preparation of the final documents.
Mr. Paul Halberstadt (N. C. State University) provided support in the
development of many of the modules. He also was the principal reviewer
and editor for these materials. The authors acknowledge his contribution
to this program.
Mrs. Gloria Braxton (N. C. State University) provided typing for
several of the modules.
Mrs. Judy Fulp (N. C. State University) served as secretary for the
project. She is primarily responsible for typing the materials in the many
modules. The authors deeply appreciate her invaluable contribution.
Only through her interest, dedication and hard work were the authors
notes turned into these documents.