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Brewery Wastewater Treatment

For Michigan Brewery

Client Overview

  • Industry: Craft Brewery
  • Location: Michigan
  • Year: 2019
  • Daily Wastewater Production: ~200,000 GPD

Challenge

Our client, a Michigan-based craft brewery, faced significant challenges with their wastewater management:

  1. High solids and organic load in the effluent from their anaerobic digester (AD) units
  2. Substantial surcharges for releasing process stream directly into the municipal sewer system
  3. Cost-prohibitive hauling to centralized treatment facilities

Solution: Advanced Filtration System

We implemented a two-stage filtration system to address these challenges:

  1. Ultrafiltration (UF): A unique polymer-free system designed to treat wastewater without additional processing aids
  2. Two-Step Reverse Osmosis™ (TSRO): Further purification of UF permeate

Project Approach

  1. Site Assessment:
    • Collaborated with the brewery to understand their unique challenges
    • Brainstormed tailored solutions
  2. Pilot Testing:
    • Collected samples of raw wastewater and digested effluent
    • Tested samples through UF and TSRO systems

Results

1

Efficiency

Recovered 95% of the wastewater as UF permeate
2

Cost Reduction

Significantly reduced operation costs and surcharges
3

Environmental Impact

Produced clean water suitable for direct discharge into water bodies

Ultrafiltration (UF) Process Streams

Parameter Unit UF Feed UF Permeate UF Concentrate % Removed by UF
Total solids % 0.39 0.17 1.23 56%
Total suspended solids mg/L 1,260 13 NA 99%
Total Chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) mg/L 2,434 267 16,470 89%
Soluble Chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) mg/L 596 249 350 58%
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) mg/L 500 100 2,456 80%
Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) mg/L 136 17 1110 88%
Phosphorus (total) mg/L 41 26.6 131 35%
Conductivity mS/cm 2.81 2.74 3.01 –
pH S.U. 7.15 7.26 7.41 –

Two-Step Reverse Osmosis™ (TSRO) Process Streams

Parameter Unit TSRO Feed TSRO Permeate TSRO Concentrate % Removed by TSRO
Total solids % 0.39 0.03 0.74 93%
Total Chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) mg/L 2,434 – 3,740 100%
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) mg/L 500 <4.5 1,091 100%
Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) mg/L 136 < 5 249 100%
Phosphorus (total) mg/L 41 < 0.01 99.2 100%
Conductivity mS/cm 2.81 0.588 7.6 –
pH S.U. 7.15 5.1 7.58 –

Key Benefits

  1. Significant Reduction in Total Solids/COD: Improved effluent quality for sewer discharge
  2. Cost Savings: Reduced surcharges and treatment costs
  3. Water Reclamation: Production of clean water suitable for reuse or direct discharge
  4. Operational Efficiency: Polymer-free UF system reduces ongoing operational costs
  5. Environmental Compliance: Meets stringent discharge requirements

Site Pictures

Scroll the gallery to see pictures of the site.

Liquid Pictures

Scroll the gallery to see pictures of the materials from our filtration equipment.

Are you facing a similar business challenge?

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