Dairy manufacturers produce anywhere from 1-6 gallons of wastewater per gallon of raw milk input. This wastewater contains high concentrations of solids, oils, phosphorus and nitrogen.
Beyond the organic materials in dairy wastewater like milk solids, whey, and butterfat, significant volumes of cleaning products involved in sanitation are also found in plant effluent. These chemical solutions cause varying wastewater pH and present process challenges when it comes time for treatment. Where many wastewater treatment applications follow a prescribed coagulation/flocculation process, dairy wastewater often requires a different approach that better accounts for the tendency of milk products to release noxious odors during equalization.
WATEQ builds complete solutions to efficiently manage the wastewater treatment and odor control requirements of the dairy industry. Our solution includes the following benefits:
- Optimization of use of water and cleaning chemicals with option for recirculation of cooling waters.
- Segregation of effluents from sanitary installations, processing, and cooling (including condensation) systems; this would facilitate ability to recycle the wastewater.
- Energy recovery through use of heat exchangers for cooling and condensing.
- Use of high-pressure nozzles to minimize water usage.
APPLICATIONS:
- Dairy products companies
- Solid cheese
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream and cottage cheese
- Dry milk
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Ice cream.