Dairy processing plants use large amounts of water — whether to dilute milk for pasteurization or to clean and sanitize equipment — leading to no small amount of wastewater. This wastewater typically contains high levels of suspended solids, organic and ammonia compounds, and fats, oils and grease (FOG) — all of which can put the surrounding environment and public health at risk if released untreated.
At World Water Works, we offer comprehensive wastewater treatment technologies for dairy operations that address these various contaminants. Our methods include the following:
Physical separation methods. Our dissolved air flotation (DAF) systems remove non-soluble organics — like FOG and total suspended solids (TSS) — from dairy wastewater by dissolving pressurized air into the water and forming tiny microbubbles. As these bubbles enter the flotation zone located within the system, contaminant particles attach to the bubbles, causing floating contaminants to separate from the wastewater and rise to the surface to be skimmed away.
Addressing biological contaminants. The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process uses bacteria to treat dairy wastewater in order to address the high levels of biological contaminations, including biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) and phosphorus. The microorganisms promote their own metabolism and growth as they degrade the organic material. As they grow, they consume organic matter, nutrients and other wastewater contaminants. The digested wastewater then flows to a secondary DAF unit where generated solids and bacteria sloughed off the MBBR biomedia are removed. The clarified water can then be discharged from the plant.
Phosphorus removal. Contaminants like phosphorus must be removed before discharging the wastewater into the environment — a challenge that our physical-chemical solutions can address. Adding coagulants and flocculants to the wastewater removes suspended solids, while physical-chemical processes using ferric chloride or polyaluminum chloride (PAC) precipitation removes the phosphorus.
An effective wastewater treatment plan can reduce your costs and minimize the environmental impact of your dairy operation. To learn more about the types of treatment technologies — including which ones might be right for you — take a look at our white paper here.
