Food & Beverage Company
Year
2019
- Recovered about 75% of wastewater as clean water for sewer discharge without surchages
- Enabled facility expansion
- Created value added co-products from filtration concentrates
Case Study: Food & Beverage Wastewater
A Food & Beverage company produces 25,000 GPD of wastewater from their facility. They have been hauling wastewater to a nearby treatment facility but have been unable to expand their production for years due to limited capacity for wastewater treatment. With our advanced filtration solutions, we can create clean water for reuse or discharge and a concentrates that can be turned into value-added co-products.
Company Issue / Challenge
The company is currently paying high fees to dispose of wastewater and is unable to expand production without a new treatment system or avenue for disposal.
The cost for hauling wastewater away is high.
Managing the storage and hauling of wastewater is a constant challenge and requires coordination of various trucks throughout the day.
Management wants to expand production at the facility but cannot due to limited avenues for wastewater treatment. This is holding back significant company growth opportunities as well as new jobs.
What We Delivered
Impact & Benefits
Our filtration systems are designed to recover clean water in high proportions from food and beverage wastewaters while making value-added co-products.
| PARAMETER | Unit | UF Feed | UF Permeate | UF Concentrate | Percent Removal by UF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Solids | mg/L | 51,600 | 41,500 | 64,800 | 20% |
| Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) | mg/L | 53,100 | 41,200 | NA | 22% |
| Ammoniacal Nitrogen | mg/L | 17 | 14 | 17 | 17% |
| Organic Nitrogen | mg/L | 1,350 | 1,100 | 1,940 | 19% |
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) | mg/L | 1,370 | 1,110 | 1,960 | 19% |
| Phosphorus | mg/L | 369 | 307 | 423 | 17% |
| Potassium | mg/L | 4,870 | 4,310 | 4,930 | 11% |
| Sulfur | mg/L | 380 | 331 | 394 | 13% |
| Calcium | mg/L | 152 | 122 | 234 | 20% |
| Magnesium | mg/L | 412 | 358 | 410 | 13% |
| Conductivity | mS/cm | 10 | 9.04 | 9.52 | n/a |
| pH | S.U. | 4.47 | 4.52 | 4.51 | n/a |
These data reveal that the raw wastewater had a total solids content of 5.16%, the majority of which were soluble or dissolved solids that passed through the UF membrane. These dissolved solids were then concentrated by the TSRO system, producing very clean water and a second concentrate product, as shown in the table below.
| PARAMETER | Unit | UF Permeate | TSRO Permeate | TSRO Concentrate | Percent Removal by TSRO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Solids | mg/L | 50,200 | 300 | 190,000 | 99% |
| Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) | mg/L | 41,200 | 20 | NA | >99.9% |
| Ammoniacal Nitrogen | mg/L | 21 | n.d. | 81 | >99.9% |
| Organic Nitrogen | mg/L | 1,310 | 18.9 | 2,190 | 99% |
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) | mg/L | 1,330 | 18.9 | 2,270 | 99% |
| Phosphorus | mg/L | 468 | 0.05 | 1,980 | >99.9% |
| Potassium | mg/L | 4,340 | 6.8 | 14,000 | >99.9% |
| Sulfur | mg/L | 395 | n.d. | 1700 | >99.9% |
| Calcium | mg/L | 190 | n.d. | 1020 | >99.9% |
| Magnesium | mg/L | 457 | n.d. | 1980 | >99.9% |
| Conductivity | ms/cm | 11.5 | 0.837 | 29.3 | n/a |
| pH | S.U. | 4.5 | 4.73 | 4.43 | n/a |
Despite the high solids content of the UF permeate, the TSRO removed 99% of the total solids. The removal of organic material, measured as Chemical Oxygen Demand, was excellent, with the TSRO permeate having 20 mg/L COD, down from about 41,000 mg/L COD in the feed. These data demonstrate that our TSRO system, which combines Forward Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis, can produce very clean effluent with low levels of organic matter. Also, the ammonia and phosphorus concentrations in the permeate were below detection limits.
Liquid Pictures
Scroll the gallery to see pictures of the materials from our filtration equipment.
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