Improving the wastewater management for a beverage industry with in-plant control

In this study wastewater management options were investigated in terms of sustainability for an industry manufacturing 300 tons of energy drinks daily. A two stage management approach covering both in-plant control and end-of-pipe treatment was adopted for the industry under examination. The characterization of segregated wastewater streams was evaluated in a way to define the pollution profile and possible reuse alternatives. When reuse practices were not employed a wastewater having an organic content of 33,000 mg/l of COD must be treated. Whereas if wastewaters originating from filter cleaning operations were segregated from other wastewater sources and passed through a suitable system such as a membrane process, a valuable sugar by-product can be obtained and the rest of the wastewaters did not require any type of treatment to meet the discharge standards as they contain only 250 mg/l of COD. It was recommended to run a feasibility study to assess whether these effluents can be reused after treated with a membrane system.

According to the results obtained in this study that investigates the wastewater management options for an industry producing energy drink; the importance of in-plant control covering especially reuse is emphasized. When in-plant control practices are not considered, an end-of-pipe treatment scheme consisted of either anaerobic treatment or membrane processes is required to control the wastewaters with a strong nature in terms of organic matter. Such an application will surely exert an additional financial burden to the industry. On the other hand if the appropriate way of man- aging the wastewaters with the aid of two stage approach covering first in-plant control and then end-of-pipe treatment is adopted, two wastewater sources with very high organic contents can be identified: i) filter cleaning operation Rinsing VII having a total COD of 158200 mg/l; ii) filter cleaning operation Rinsing VIII having a total COD of 3200 mg/l. Sugar recovery and reuse can be applied to these waste streams by passing them through a membrane process. By doing so a valuable sugar by-product can be obtained and a wastewater that does not necessitate any end-of-pipe treatment to comply the effluent limitations can be achieved. Apart from canceling the treatment requirement for the effluent, such an in-plant control application can generate wastewaters that are reusable in nature. Therefore it is recommended to find out reuse potential of these wastewaters by running a feasibility study.