Desalination, Vol.211, No.1-3, 138-143, 2007
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.
Keywords:energy drinks industry;industrial wastewater;in-plant control;pollution profile;reuse;recovery