Grease and solid materials from plant and animal products frequently have a good market

value. Demand from soap plants, feed plants, and other industries can make a recovery of
waste solids a profitable operation. Such operations also reduce the amount of wastewater
treatment.

If municipal charges and surcharges are high, additional pretreatment can be economically

advantageous because better pretreatment will reduce these charges.

Municipality complaints can be reduced through additional treatment responsibilities

assumed by the food processor. The following disadvantages can discourage pretreatment of
wastewater:

Pretreatment facilities are expensive and increase the complexity of the processing
operation.

Maintenance costs, monitoring costs, and record keeping of a wastewater treatment

operation can be expensive.

Pretreatment facilities are placed on the property tax roll unless state regulations permit
tax-free waste treatment.

If pretreatment is conducted, this process should be based on facts revealed from the waste
disposal survey. Results from the plant survey and review of viable waste conservation and
water reuse systems are essential for identification, design, and cost estimates of a
pretreatment system. Cost estimates should include those parts of the pretreatment
attributable to flow, such as dissolved air flotation and grease basins. Thus, major inplant
expenses for waste conservation and water recycling can be determined based on the
estimated reduction in flow, BOD, suspended solids, and grease. Most common pretreatment
processes include flow equalization and the separation of floatable matter and SS. Separation
is frequently increased by the addition of lime and alum, ferric chloride (FeCl3), or a selected
polymer. Paddle flocculation may follow alum and lime, and lime or ferric chloride additions,
to assist in coagulation of the suspended solids. Separation is usually accomplished by gravity
or by air flotation. Screening by vibrating, rotary, or static-type screens is a step that precedes
the separation process and concentrates the separated floatables and settled solids. Flow
Equalization Flow equalization and neutralization are used to reduce hydraulic loading in the
waste stream. Facilities required are a holding device and pumping equipment designed to
reduce the fluctuation of effluent discharge. This operation can be economically
advantageous, whether processing firms treat their own wastewater or discharge into a
municipal sewage treatment facility after pretreatment. An equalizing tank has the capacity to
store wastewater for recycling or reuse, or to feed the flow uniformly to the treatment facility
day and night. This unit is characterized by a varying flow into and a constant flow from the
tank. Equalizing tanks can be lagoons, steel construction tanks, or concrete tanks, often
without a cover. It is important to integrate the discard flow of the process to the normal
capacity of the treatment equipment that has been installed. Screening The most frequently
used process for pretreatment is screening, which normally employs vibrating screens, static
screens, or a rotary screen. Vibrating and rotary screens are more frequently used because
they can permit pretreatment of a larger quantity of wastewater that contains more organic
matter. These screening devices are well adapted to a flow-away (water in forward flow and
passing through with solids constantly removed from the screen) mode of operation and can
vary widely in mechanical action and in mesh size. Mesh sizes used in pretreatment range
from approximately 12.5 mm in diameter for a static screen to approximately 0.15 mm in
diameter for high-speed circular vibratory polishing screens. Screens are sometimes used in
combination (e.g., prescreen polish screen) to attain the desired efficiency of solids removal.
Skimming This process is frequently incorporated if large, floatable solids are present. These
solids are collected and transferred into some disposal unit or preceding equipment. Lime and
FeCl3, or a selected polymer maybe added to enhance separation of solids, and paddle
flocculation may follow to assist with the coagulation of these solids. Primary Treatment The
principal purpose of primary treatment is to remove particles from the wastewater.
Sedimentation and flotation techniques are used. Sedimentation is the most common primary
treatment technique used to remove solids from wastewater influent because most sewage
contains a substantial amount of readily settleable solid material. As much as 40 to 60% of
the solids, or approximately 25 to 35% of the BOD5 load, can be removed by pretreatment
screening and primary sedimentation. Some of the solids removed are refractory (inert) and
are not measured by the BOD test.

A rectangular settling tank or a circular tank clarifier is most frequently used in

primary treatment. Many settling tanks incorporate slowly rotating collectors with attached
flights (paddles) that scrape settled sludge from the bottom of the tank and skim floating
scum from the surface. Design of a sedimentation system should incorporate sizing of the
detention vessel and provide a quiescent state for the raw wastewater. Temperature variation
of the wastewater also affects sedimentation because of the development of heat convection
currents and the potential interference with marginal setting participles. Grease removal is
accomplished during this pretreatment process through elimination of the surface scum.
Flotation In this treatment process, oil, grease, and other suspended matter are removed from
wastewater. A primary reason that flotation is used in the food industry is that it is effective
in removing oil from wastewater. Dissolved air flotation (DAF) removes suspended matter
from wastewater by using small air bubbles. Flocculants and polymers are added to the
wastewater to separate grease, oils, and fats from the water. When discrete particles attach to
tiny air bubbles, the specific gravity of the aggregate particle becomes less than that of water.
The particle separates from the carrying liquid in an upward movement by attaching to the air
bubble. The particles are then floated for removal from the wastewater. Also, this
pretreatment process involves contact of the raw wastewater with a recycled, clarified
effluent that has been pressurized through air injection in a pressure tank. The combined flow
stream enters the clarification vessel, and the release of pressure causes tiny air bubbles to
form, which move up to the surface of the water, carrying the suspended particles with them.
Air bubbles, which incorporate the flotation principle by removal of oil and suspended
particles, can be created in the wastewater by (1) use of rotating impellers.