Optimizing chemical treatment for food and beverage wastewater management
” Starting with our laboratory team who conducts thorough testing to find a suitable chemical combination, to our field team who optimize the chemical dosage and keep the wastewater systems up and running, Owatec Group provides the full package to deal with different wastewater challenges.” Miska Veijola-Kara, Head chemist
Food and beverage industries such as fish product manufacturers often generate large amounts of wastewater which contain, for instance, fish residues and grease. Owatec Group’s wastewater treatment services contain multiple wastewater purification steps which help companies reduce their wastewater load and also help them make more environmentally friendly choices. Wastewater pretreatment locally reduces the load of municipal wastewater treatment plants and reduces clogging in the sewage system.
The aim of wastewater pretreatment at the customer site is to reduce the load of the wastewater before it enters the municipal wastewater treatment system. It is crucial to reduce the amount of nutrients, grease, and other solids in the wastewater to ensure efficient municipal wastewater treatment and to prevent clogging in the sewage system in the nearby areas.
In addition to benefiting municipal wastewater treatment, local pretreatment reduces the wastewater costs for companies.
One crucial aspect of local wastewater pretreatment is optimizing the chemical treatment, which enables successful wastewater treatment. Without proper optimization of chemicals wastewater treatment can fail and there can be an underdose or an overdose of chemicals. Optimizing the chemical dosage can be done easily with Owatec Group’s automation that is included within the wastewater treatment process. The automation is linked to an online portal Owatec EYE where the customer as well as the field team can follow up the process remotely. The field team can also monitor and for instance remotely change the chemical dosage if needed from their own system.
Optimizing the chemical treatment at the wastewater treatment plant ensures that the purification process is efficient. Using a too low chemical dosage can lead to inefficient results and the treated water might not reach the set requirements. On the other hand, using a too high chemical dosage is a waste of chemicals and natural resources and can end up to even worse results. Therefore, careful testing and optimization are key to an effective wastewater treatment. Starting with our incredible laboratory team who conducts thorough testing to find a suitable chemical combination, to our extraordinary field team who optimize the chemical dosage and keep the wastewater systems up and running, Owatec Group provides the full package to deal with different wastewater challenges.
Chemical optimization references
Fish slaughterhouse
95% COD reduction
Initially the COD of the wastewater was 6000 mg/l and after the chemical treatment with the best chemical Picture 1 shows the laboratory test result done with the iron coagulant.
Fish production plant
Over 200 tons of COD removed per year
At a Finnish fish factory, Owatec Group has purified nearly 100 000 m3 wastewater in 2023 and removed over 200 tonnes of COD. The average chemical oxygen demand for the treated wastewater was 550 mg/l and the average COD reduction was 70 %.
Slaughterhouse
Costly challenge: blood
Wastewater from a slaughterhouse was chemically treated with an aluminum coagulant and an iron coagulant. Figure 2 shows the difference between treatment after aluminum (left JAR-test) and after iron (middle JAR-test). The iron coagulant was able to remove the red color from the wastewater. The difference between the two different coagulants was also visible with the COD analysis. The initial COD of the wastewater was 2900 mg/l and after the aluminum coagulant it was 750 mg/l and after the iron coagulant it was 480 mg/l. In the right JAR-test, a higher dose of iron coagulant was used. This shows that using an excessive dose of chemicals can lead to worse results. With laboratory testing the best chemical combination can be chosen for each wastewater.