SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF BREWERY EFFLUENT

Abstract

Simply by virtue of the very nature of the production process, breweries are shock dischargers as regards both volume and pollution level. Although the biodegradation of the average brewery waste water can be performed with ease and to an extremely high level it is often the variability of the dis charges of brewery waste water that gives rise to objections from both those living in the vicinity and government. Process technical sanitation in the brewery itself is generally the only possible way of limiting a brewery's impact on the environment. A sufficiently large, well-mixed and aerated balancing tank (equilibration basin) appears to be a very effective means of reducing peak discharges. The various authorities generally adapt their discharge regulations to the possibilities available locally, whereby the main objective is usually the protection of other economic/health factors, as well as the protection of their own civil works. The importance of a good flow-measuring and sampling method as a means of checking the effect of newly introduced 'house-keeping methods' is indicated as a means of putting for ward one's point to the authorities and also for use as design parameters for one's own Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP). The introduction of any type ofWWTP on the premises of a foodstuff factory is not only a question of investment but also of available ground area and running costs. The paper includes a comparison table showing the differences between aerobic and anaerobic systems as developed up to the present day and also practical hints on how to limit water discharge embarrassment, including the spreading of shock discharges by means of an equilibration basin. The conclusion underlines the rapid development of the anaerobic waste water process and the sequence trend in waste water treatment: first, anaerobic 'roughing', followed by an aerobic 'refining' of the waste water. The best method of waste water treatment is still determined by the local circumstances and the unique character of each individual brewery. Keywords: