Food and beverage production requires a large volume of pure water, free of toxins or contaminants. Agriculture is the first thing that comes to mind when considering water usage in food production for good reason: according to the UN, agriculture accounts for 70% of global water withdrawal. However, water plays a role in four key aspects of food production, according to the European Food Information Council:
- Primary production (e.g. farming)
- Cleaning and sanitation
- As an ingredient or component of an ingredient
- Processing operations (e.g. heating, refrigeration)
While they rely on a huge volume of water to function, food and beverage production facilities can reduce their water and water disposal costs by strategically treating and reusing water whenever possible.
There is an increasing trend of food and beverage manufacturers focusing on their water footprint both as a means of controlling operating costs and minimising environmental impact. Increasing costs of process water and wastewater discharge tariffs, stricter environmental legislation, progressing water stress and rising social awareness are forcing manufacturers to adopt water conservation programs and implement water re-use as well as closed loop water systems to achieve operational savings in both energy and water.
- Preservation of water resources
- Guaranteed supply of process water
- Controlling product health risks
- Flexibility of water treatment installations
- Ensuring the reliability of physicochemical treatment
- Elimination of C, N, P and COD pollution
- Ensuring biological effluent treatment plants operate at optimum efficiency
- Treatment of fats
- Recycling of sludge
- Management of odour problems
- Reduction of energy consumption
We have a complete range of water treatment solutions for the production of demineralized water, a raw material in the production of agri-food products (dairy products, drinks, etc.); the production of process water and steam; and the treatment of effluent and odour management.
The production of demineralized water, process water and steam:
- By ultrafiltration for treated water of consistent quality,
- By reverse osmosis to reduce consumption of chemical reagents
- By coupling of ultrafiltration with reverse osmosis
- By denitrification to reduce resin volumes needed and to ensure protection of the distribution networks
Effluent treatment of effluent and sludge recycling:
- By a physical/chemical finishing process, for the reduction of suspended matter and phosphorus
- By a biological process for complex effluents, before discharge into a highly sensitive natural environment
- By MBR, to eliminate COD, nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus and suspended solids
- By a methanization process to make use of the energy contained in sludge
- By odour management in order to avoid offensive odours
Furthermore, we offer a full range of services that cover complete operation of your water treatment installations, maintenance, technical assistance and the leasing of mobile water treatment units to meet any temporary requirements (emergencies, maintenance, etc.). In France, we offer an off-site effluent treatment solution to respond to an increase in your production, the launch of a new product, etc.