ATB Water English: Wastewater treatment plants for dairy & milk processing

Wastewater treatment and recycling in dairies milk processing

The demand for dairy products is also growing in parallel with rising fish and meat consumption. In South East Asia in particular, more and more people are drinking milk, eating yogurt and eating cheese. This is actually surprising, as a significant proportion of the people living there are lactose intolerant. Nevertheless, the population in countries such as China, Thailand and Vietnam is increasingly adapting to the Western diet. And this is hardly conceivable without the consumption of dairy products. Globally, the top three producers of dairy products are the USA, followed by the European Union and finally India. Just like bread, milk is also considered a staple food. Cow's milk currently accounts for 81 percent, by far the largest share of milk production. Buffalo milk accounts for 15 percent, while goat, sheep and camel milk share the remaining 4 percent.

Wastewater in the milk processing industry contains a lot of fat, solids, COD and BOD. Therefore it is very suitable for biological wastewater treatment plants. However, there are some challenges especially in milk processing. Due to the use of strong cleaning agents, there are a few things that need to be taken into account in wastewater treatment plants in this field. Our experts have already implemented countless wastewater treatment plants, for example for cheese production or milk filling. Wastewater treatment plants for milk processing are also frequently used when the wastewater is subsequently discharged into the sewer. This allows the milk producer to significantly reduce his wastewater fees. As a result, wastewater treatment systems in this sector often pay back after a short time.

In our practical report Finca & cheese production you can get a first impression of of our various application possibilities in the field of sewage technology. We are convinced that we will find the right solution for your requirements as well.

Practical Report cheese production

Cheese production at S’Atalaia

Already at 7 o’clock in the morning the excitement in the stables of the Finca S’Atalaia is great: even before breakfast, for the 1,700 animals in the milking parlour, it is all about emptying semi-automatically the tightly filled udders and giving the animals relief. Following the bacteriological testing, the milk is heated up to ca. 32°C. For the conversion of the lactose into lactobacilli, which allow the milk protein to curdle, acidification cultures and/or laboratory enzymes are mixed into the milk. As soon as the so-called gelatine shows the correct consistency, a start is made with the cheese. Using the so-called “cheese harp”, a sharp cut- ting instrument consisting of several cheese wires in a stainless steel frame, the mass is cut evenly into small pieces the size of a corn cobs – the curd results. The remaining, enormously fatty, watery part, the whey, is disposed of via the outlet, while the cheese mass remains in the container until it has reached the correct consistency.

As soon as the cheese mass has the correct consistency it is filled into the pressing forms with the remaining whey. The residual whey also flows into the outlet, the cheese now remains in the pressing forms. During the next few hours, the mass is pressed in the forms with increasing pressure and turned over several times. In the subsequent salt bath the whole cheeses take up some salt on the surface and give up fluids. The solid rind begins to form. The whole cheeses retain their stability. After this the young cheeses come into the cool cheese room.
At the end of daily production the complete cheese dairy equipment is cleaned and disinfected using strong cleaning agents; the highly toxic detergents go into the wastewater system of the finca.

”In order to be able to continue to produce our Quesos Artesanales S’Atalaia as «Producto naturales», we are dependent on all our natural resources – from our land, our animals, our water. Therefore we must take action ourselves in order to get hold of the situation, to protect our nature and to secure all our futures.” Miguel Angel Vives Lliteras has acted. He tasked the firm Agua Vivas based in Artá/Majorca with the investigation of his old wastewater treatment plant - a cesspit with two chambers for the incoming wastewater and a further compartment for the percolation – as well as of the current wastewater production of his Finca S’Atalaia, which lies ca. 40 kilometres southeast of Palma in the direction of Santanyí, immediately in the vicinity of the dreamy, small location of Llucmajor with its tiny cafes and shops. Following comprehensive research and various analyses the results did not take long to appear: on the overall 300 hectares large property of the Viva
Lliteras family there are ca 1,700 sheep and goats grazing, daily there are over 1,300 litres of milk from the animals processed for the much sought after cheese. Which means: hundreds of litres of warm, high fat whey, the liquidwaste from the cheese dairy, are sent to the outlet daily. Together with the highly aggressive detergents which are used for the disinfection of the cheese dairy equipment, as well as wastewater from the social rooms, the composition – with the treatment performance of the old three-chamber cesspit, which is hardly worth mentioning – is a small environmental catastrophe. And this in the middle of the finca!

Miguel was convinced! The old plant had to be rehabilitated as quickly as possible and be equipped with the latest technology in order to avoid more extensive environmental damage in front of his own house door, in order to prevent damage to his home and to secure the future.
Following precise planning works, Aguas Vivas now converted the old plant completely. The various wastewater streams – those containing fat and those without – were separated from each other. The three existing chambers of the old cesspit were now turned into a grease separator, primary settling stage and buffer tank; a new SBR tank was produced, a downstream constructed wetlands installed. In order to control the quantity of water for the percolation an additional buffer tank made from plastic was added which passed the water, regulated, to the wetlands. For the technical part of the SBR tank, Aguas Vivas selected an AQUAMAX^® PROFESSIONAL GZ for up to 53 PT. “This plant is just very reliable, offers an unbelievable treatment performance and is – should it ever be needed, capable of being expanded”, thus Peter Enge, the managing director of German origin, of Aguas Vivas. The new facility could now be commissioned. Already today, shortly after commissioning the new wastewater treatment plant, the wastewater on S’Atalaia is no longer a topic: everything is running well on track, everything has been done in order that Miguel’s «Producto naturale», also in the future, stands on the tables of high society. And perhaps, when environmental awareness has also reached the x-millionth visitor to the island, “Malle” will somewhen once again be just «Majorca».