Dairy Waste Water Treatment plant

Dairy Industry:

 The dairy industry involves processing raw milk into

products including milk, butter, cheese, yogurt,
Evaporated milk, whey, Ice cream.

 Various processes such as chilling, pasteurization,

Deodorisation and homogenization takes place.

 Huge amounts of water are used during the process

producing effluents containing dissolved sugars and
proteins, fats, and possibly residues of additives.
SOURCES OF WASTEWATER:
1. Processing waters
It include water used in the cooling and
heating processes. These effluents are normally free of
pollutants and require minimum treatment.

2. Cleaning wastewaters
Which emanate mainly from the
cleaning of equipment that has been in contact with milk or
milk products, this water contain milk, cheese, whey, cream &
has high BOD load, require proper treatment.

3. Sanitary wastewater
which is normally piped directly to a
sewage works.
 Waste water Parameters
S. Constituents Cheese plant Milk receiving Casein plant Butter, Pooled Dairy
No and Butter oil Effluent
pasteurization and ghee
section section
1 Total solids 2250 3620 650 3400 1650
2 Color White White Clear Brown White
3 Chlorides 100 95 70 100 115
4 Volatile solids 25 75 55 65 60
5 Suspended solids 600 1300 100 2200 650
6 Phosphates 12 10 5 2 10
7 pH 6.7 8.2 7.7 7.1 6.1
8 Calcium carbonate 480 500 460 420 530

9 Absorbed oxygen 480 400 10 85 --

10 BOD 2150 1620 200 1250 810
11 COD 3130 2600 370 3200 1340
12 Oil and Grease 520 690 -- 1320 290
13 COD:BOD 1.46 1.43 1.85 2.56 1.65
Components of Treatment plant :
1. Segregation:
 Waste streams should be segregated – for example, whey
can be reused to produce whey powder or stock feed.

 Spent cleaning solutions should be separated as they can

be treated to recover cleaning agents.

 Highly saline water discharged separately to an evaporation

pond where the salts can be recovered and recycled.

2.Physical Screening:
 It remove large particles or debris that may cause damage
to pumps and downstream clogging.

 It prevent increase in the COD concentration due to solid

solubilisation.
3.Equalisation:

 It is necessary because discharged dairy wastewaters can

vary greatly with respect to volume, strength, temperature,
pH, and nutrient levels.

 pH adjustment and flow balancing can be achieved by

keeping effluent in an equalization tank for 6–12 hours.

 During this time, residual oxidants can react completely with

solid particles, neutralizing cleaning solutions.

 Mechanical aerators or Baffle walls are used to create

enough turbulence, so that solid particles can’t settle.
4. pH Control:
 The optimum pH range for biological treatment
plants is between 6.5 and 8.5.

 Alternative pH control can be achieved by using

spent acid and alkali cleaners to neutralise each
other.

 The most commonly used chemicals are H2SO4,

HNO3, CO2, NaOH, or lime.

 Balancing tank should be large enough to allow a

few hours extra capacity to handle unforeseen peak
loads and not discharge shock loads to public sewers
5. Fats, Oil, and Grease Removal:
(i) Gravity Traps
 It is self-operating, and easily constructed system, in which
wastewater flows through a series of cells, and the FOG
mass(Fat, Oil, Grease), which usually floats on top, is
removed by retention within the cells.

 It requires frequent monitoring and cleaning to prevent

FOG build-up, and has low efficiency at pH values above 8.

(ii) Air Flotation OR Dissolved Air Flotation

Dissolved Air Flotation involves aerating a fraction of recycled
wastewater at a pressure of 400–600 kPa in pressure chamber

 Then water is sent into a flotation tank containing

untreated dairy processing wastewater.
 The dissolved air is converted to minute air bubbles under
the normal atmospheric pressure in the tank.

 Heavy solids form sediment while the air bubbles attach to

the fat particles and the remaining suspended matter.

 The resulting scum is removed and disposed of according to

approved methods.

 Whereas in the Air Flotation air bubbles are introduced

directly into the flotation tank containing the untreated
wastewater, by means of a cavitation aerator coupled to a
revolving impeller.

 Air Flotation is more economical than Dissolved Air

Flotation
Biological Treatment
(i) Activated sludge process
It is a continuous treatment that uses a
consortium of microbes suspended in the wastewater in an
aeration tank to biodegrade the organic pollutants.
Aerobic filters
 The slimy microbial mass growing on the carrier medium
absorbs the organic constituents of the wastewater and
decomposes them aerobically.

 The organic loading for dairy wastewaters not exceed

0.28–0.30 kg BOD/m3
Rotating Biological Contactors (RBC)
 The discs, rotating at 1–3 rpm, are placed on a horizontal
shaft so that about 40–60% of the disc surface protrudes
out of the tank.

 The primary advantages are the low power input required,

relative ease of operation and low maintenance.
Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)

Lagoons/Ponds
Anaerobic Biological Systems

 Anaerobic systems are more economical than aerobic

because of high-energy requirements associated with aeration.

 Anaerobic digestion also yields methane, which can be

utilized as a heat or power source.

 Less sludge is generated, thereby reducing problems

associated with sludge disposal.

 As ammonia nitrogen is not removed in an anaerobic

system, Complementary treatment is necessary.
Contact Digester
 Because the bacteria are retained and recycled, this type of
plant can treat medium-strength wastewater (200–20,000
mg/L COD) very efficiently at high OLRs.

 A major difficulty is the poor settling properties of the

anaerobic biomass from the digester effluent.
Fixed-bed Digester
(down or up flow)

 The reactor is filled with gravel, rocks, coke, plastic media

& thus no need for biomass separation and sludge recycling.

 The main drawback is the potential risk of clogging by

undegraded suspended solids or the bacterial biomass.
Fluidized-bed Digesters
 The carrier medium is constantly kept in suspension by
powerful recirculation of the liquid phase.
 Problems of channelling, plugging, and gas hold-up
commonly encountered in packed-beds are avoided.
Land Treatment
 Nutrients such as N and P are contained in
biodegradable processing wastewaters , so it is use
as organic fertilizers.

 Land application of these effluents may, however,

be limited by the presence of toxic substances,
high salt concentrations, or extreme pH values

Sludge Disposal

 Sludge thickening, dewatering, drying, or

incineration may be performed.
References
1.Manual of Environmental guidelines for the dairy processing industry
by environment protection authority ,state government of victoria.

2. Treatment of Dairy Processing Wastewaters.pdf by Trevor J. Britz

3. Manual of cleaner production assessment in dairy processing prepared

by COWI consulting engineers and planners AS, Denmark

4. http:// www.dairyforall.com(accessed on 31.10.2011)

5. http://www.ecologixsystems.com (accessed on 31.10.2011)