Wine production wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment plays a crucial role in wine production. When processing food, compliance with all hygiene standards is important. This means that a lot of water is needed for cleaning, and food residues and cleaning chemicals also mix into the wastewater. This must not be allowed to flow into the environment untreated. The ideal solution for this is a biological wastewater treatment plant that meets all the requirements for industrial wine production wastewater treatment.

A winery in Great Britain asked for such a plant. A restaurant is connected to the wine press and storage facilities, which, among other things, serves the wine produced by the winery. Seasonally, workers live on the premises who are responsible for the wine production. On average, 65 cubic metres of wastewater are produced per day. Due to the organic load of the grapes, the wastewater contains a very high COD and BOD₅ content.

The first challenge in this project was the existing on-site wastewater treatment plant. This was too small to comply with the UK’s required effluent values. On the one hand, the winery expanded its production capacities, on the other hand, Great Britain tightened its standards for the direct discharge of wastewater. For these two reasons, the existing wastewater treatment plant was no longer adequate.

The second challenge was the seasonal fluctuation of the wastewater load. In the summer and early autumn months, wine production experiences a peak, while in the winter months it is largely dormant. In the summer months, the hygienic wastewater from the seasonal workers and the wastewater from wine production are added to the wastewater from the restaurant. The solution for wine production wastewater treatment had to be able to compensate for these fluctuations.

The customer chose a containerised wastewater treatment plant with ClearFox® FBBR module, ClearFox® lamella clarifier, disinfection and ClearFox® sludge treatment. This system is particularly resistant to fluctuating wastewater loads. The wastewater first flows into the biological reactor, where microorganisms treat it. Then a ClearFox® lamella clarifier separates the clearwater from the sludge. After a disinfection stage, the wastewater can be discharged into the environment without hesitation. The sludge produced is additionally dewatered by the plant to reduce the intervals for removal to a minimum.

PPU took over the complete planning for this project. The customer provided all parameters and conditions. After a site visit, the Bayreuth-based company adapted the ClearFox® wastewater treatment plant to the customer’s needs. Through outstanding and transparent communication, PPU was able to implement the project in a timely manner and meet all customer’s requirements.