All wineries need a sound plan for managing wastewater discharges from their facility, particularly during crush season when the waste loads are quite high as compared to the off-season when the facility is bottling and packaging their product and the loads are greatly reduced.
Wineries generally have their own strategy for discharging wastewater, including septic systems, ponds and lagoons, or spray irrigation of wastewater onto nearby lands.
Aerated lagoons, in which the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the wastewater is biologically degraded, can effectively treat winery wastewater; however, lagoons are becoming less attractive, since they consume a large amount of real estate, are not aesthetically pleasing and can often be a significant source of odors. It may also be difficult to obtain a permit for an aerated lagoon. Depending on local regulations, the treated wastewater from the lagoons typically must have a BOD of 80 parts per million (ppm) or less before the winery can discharge it directly to the environment.
Wineries that can't meet the BOD requirement or do not have the necessary land available for a pond may need to consider wastewater treatment technologies that will allow them to discharge the water and remain in compliance with environmental regulations.
The type of treatment chosen depends on the crush and non-crush season wastewater loads, the treated effluent quality desired, the space available for a wastewater treatment system, site-specific regulatory requirements and the winery's future expansion needs.
With the complex issues that wineries can face in managing their wastewater, many of them are partnering with water treatment companies and engineering firms to help them sort through the issues and develop the solution that best meets their needs.
Wineries with limited space might consider a packaged biological treatment plant. These plants are shipped already assembled at the factory and can be installed inside buildings or underground to maintain the aesthetics of the winery.
For wineries that generate average daily organic loads between 500 and 20,000 pounds per day, a small cylindrical packaged treatment plant is an option. This pre-engineered system includes all the treatment steps required to effectively manage the wastewater, including screening equipment, influent water equalization, aeration basins, clarifier and sludge digestion.
If a higher degree of treatment is needed, a membrane bioreactor packaged plant (MBR) would provide reliable and efficient wastewater treatment with reduced maintenance requirements. These systems are pre-assembled and skidded at the factory, and are available in standard plant designs. MBR systems can handle wastewater with a high organic load, while producing an effluent with a BOD level of less than 5 ppm, a suspended solids level of less than 1 ppm, and a turbidity level of less than 0.2 NTU. Additionally, the system meets California Title 22 requirements for reclaim water, making it suitable for a number of non-potable uses.
MBR packaged plants are attractive to wineries with smaller amounts of wastewater and that require a high level of treatment because they are compact, can be quickly and easily installed and are easy to operate and maintain.
Wineries with a large amount of wastewater might consider a high-rate anaerobic reactor that uses anaerobic bacteria to convert the dissolved BOD into a useable methane-rich biogas.
One such system, the compact Biopaq Internal Circulation (IC) Reactor, was developed by Paques B.V. of the Netherlands for industries with limited space to treat their effluent. The IC reactor is a vertical tank 16-25 meters high and 1.5-12.5 meters wide. The wastewater (influent) is pumped into the bottom of the reactor with an efficient distribution system, and is mixed with the granular anaerobic biomass. In the lower reactor compartment, most of the organic components are converted into methane and carbon dioxide. This gas mixture, or "biogas," is collected in the lower level phase separator. This generates a "gas lift," which forces the water upwards through the riser into the liquid/gas separator on top of the reactor. The biogas leaves the reactor through the separator and the water returns through the downer back to the bottom of the system. The effluent is polished in the second, upper compartment. The biogas formed in the second compartment emerges from the polishing step and from the liquid phase. It is then collected in the upper phase separator while the effluent leaves the reactor from the top. The self-regulating internal circulation offers considerable operational advantages, which in turn reduce operating costs while offering greater reliability and productivity.
The Biopaq IC reactor is considered a 'green' machine, as it produces a methane-rich biogas that can be easily recovered as energy. But, it produces little biomass volume, and it’s also fast with a short hydraulic retention time. All of this can translate into cost savings for the winery.
For wineries that prefer to have a single vendor do everything from designing the wastewater treatment plant, to erecting the building and installing and starting up the system, some water treatment companies provide "turnkey" solutions, making the winery operator's life that much easier.
Andrew R. Delgado is a senior account manager with Siemens Water Technologies, and is based in San Jose, Calif.
Coors Shenandoah: Peak Performance
For its commitment to operational excellence and a green-minded approach, Coors Shenandoah receives the Beverage World Plant of the Year Award.
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