SBR equipment for fruit and vegetable processing

A company from Croatia that processes fruit and vegetables asked PPU for a wastewater treatment plant. The wastewater comes from three sources: Firstly, the company washes the vegetables before processing. Secondly, fruit water is lost during the processing of the fruit and vegetables, which is mixed into the wastewater. The third source of wastewater is the regular cleaning of the processing facilities. Thus, about four cubic metres of wastewater are produced every day.

Due to the sugar and the other fruit juice components, the wastewater has an increased COD and BOD₅. Depending on the wastewater source, the pH value also varies between 5.5 and 9. To find the most suitable treatment solution for the wastewater from fruit and vegetable production, the ClearFox® team first examined wastewater samples in the in-house laboratory. The engineers then set the effluent values to a COD of less than 700 mg/l and a BOD₅ of less than 250 mg/l.

The challenge in this project was the fluctuating wastewater inflows. The cleaning work takes place once a day, but the washing of vegetables is irregular. Therefore, the treatment plant had to be designed to reliably compensate for the fluctuating wastewater inflows.

The ClearFox® team developed special wastewater treatment solution as a SBR equipment for fruit and vegetable processing. To compensate for the fluctuating pH values, the engineers offered desertions for acid, alkali, ammonium, and phosphorus. After treatment, the wastewater is suitable for direct discharge and the environment.

The ClearFox® team and the client agreed that he construct an underground concrete tank on site. This would house the SBR equipment for fruit and vegetable processing and dosing devices. In addition, he was to build a small house for the control technology. Thus, the ClearFox® team supplied the customer with the fully assembled SBR equipment, which kept shipping costs to a minimum.

The wastewater first flows into a pre-chamber, which functions as a collection tank. There, a probe measures the pH value. Via the control unit, the system adds acids or alkalis to achieve the desired pH value. At regular intervals, the wastewater flows into the SBR reactor. There, an intelligent aeration system supplies oxygen to the microorganisms, which form a secondary sludge and thus treat the wastewater.

The system separates the clear water from the sludge via long-life airlift pumps. From the SBR reactor, this can be discharged directly into the environment. The ClearFox® SBR system is an outstanding solution for the reliable biological treatment of wastewater with an increased COD and BOD₅ content.