SOLUTIONS BY INDUSTRY

Wastewater from butchers' shops and slaughterhouses is heavily contaminated with fats and other organic substances such as faeces and hair. In addition, considerable amounts of solids are extracted from the animals' gut during slaughter. Fats and fatty acids in wastewater from butchers and other meat processors can accumulate and clog in pipelines. Fatty acids often lead to corrosion of wastewater pipes and other technical equipment in plants and sewage treatment plants. In wastewater treatment plants, fats are an obstacle to biological treatment. In addition, there are often large temperature differences. The use of cleaning detergents is particularly important for hygienic reasons. - This represents an additional challenge for sewage treatment plants. Strong organic impurities from the meat industry can lead to overfertilisation and fish mortality when discharged directly into water. A further problem of wastewater from the meat industry is the local odour annoyance and the introduction of germs into waters.

In our practical report Butcher shop 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.

Through the intelligent combination of modern management and ecological thinking a provincial butchers shop has been turned into a much sought after domestic slaughterhouse. But managing the increased volume of wastewater is not always simple.

A slaughterhouse in the Niedersachsen rural district of Rotenburg made contact with us in the spring of 2000. Per week, the slaughterhouse processed some 23 - 25 pigs and 1 - 2 head of cattle. In the main season even up to 33 pigs and 3 - 4 head of cattle. 

The problem: the slaughterhouse is and will not be connected to the public sewerage system; since 1992 the owner has operated a biological filter plant for 27 PT with a preliminary treatment volume of 15,000 litres. This plant was, however at no time in a position to treat the wastewater satisfactorily. An investigation by the Technical University Hamburg in 1996 determined a treatment performance of 40 %. There was no removal of nitrogen. Even various attempts at conversion by the manufacturer of the biological filter plant showed no improvements.

In 1999 an engineer office attempted to improve the system. Thus, for example, an additional buffer tank with a capacity of 1,000 litres was installed in order better to cope with the surge loading. The preliminary treatment stage was also expanded to 9,000 litres. The problem of this case lies clearly in the composition and amount of the wastewater. Thus slaughtering takes place only once or twice a week. Blood and nitrite pickling salt are not disposed of separately. The use of strong cleaning agents is equally unavoidable. The COD concentration in the inflow varied between 1,100 and 2,200 mg/l, NH₄N was about 110 mg/l. The water consumption varied between 2 and 7 m³/day.

Here we saw a challenge for the AQUAMAX^®

The service firm used 3 of the existing tanks in order to install the AQUAMAX^® wastewater treatment plant: the first tank with 9,000 l capacity as preliminary treatment stage, the second tank with ca. 7,000 l capacity as buffer tank and the third tank with some 11,000 l capacity was equipped as AQUAMAX^® SBR plant. Using the AQUAMAX^® technology conversion was simple: the buffer pump and the AQUAMAX^® were simply suspended from above into the tank. Modification work on the existing tanks was barely necessary.