Home > Industries > Food and Beverage

Detectronic can help monitor final trade effluent, process water flows and water quality in food and beverage plants

Food and Beverage

Water is an important commodity for the food and beverage industry, used in large volumes for production processes, added to products, in cleaning operations, heating or refrigeration purposes and for normal sanitation purposes in kitchens and bathrooms.

The food and beverage industry is a diverse sector and includes:

Beverage manufacturing including distilleries, breweries, wineries and soft drink manufacturers including fruit juices and smoothies, bottled water, still drinks, cordial and carbonated drinks.
Milk and dairy products including cheese, butter, yoghurt and dried produce.
Confectionery
Bakeries and other food manufacturers of pasta, pies and cereals
Meat processing plants including abattoirs, butchers, delicatessens
Fruit and vegetable packers
Fish processing
Production of fats and oils
Production of food ingredients such as salt, sugar, yeast
Animal feed plants

In addition to rising water charges, increases in wastewater surcharges are placing food and beverage plants under increasing pressure to treat their own water and wastewater supplies.

Detectronic has been working with companies within the food and beverage industry for the last 10 years and understands the different challenges organisations face. You can see some of the projects we’ve worked on in our case studies.

Below is an example of how Detectronic can help dairy plants:

water uses in food and beverage

Process water

Water taken from rivers, boreholes or recycled water can be used as part of the process including pre-treatment, clarification, filtration, membrane reverse osmosis (RO), disinfection, boiling and cooling. Some raw water sources can contain trace levels of organics resulting in corrosion, deposition, and scaling. The ORAKEL System allows multiple water quality sensors to be added, each measuring different parameters. The ORAKEL System also includes 3 different flow monitoring technologies including non-contact radar, area velocity and clamp on to suit open channel and closed pipe flow monitoring.

Trade effluent discharges

The water quality parameters being measured will depend on what product is being manufactured. Most plants will be interested in staying with the consent levels for biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), fats, oils and grease (FOG), various nutrients and total suspended solids (TSS). Changes in influent conditions caused by load shocks, temperature changes, increases in production, changes in manufacturing operations, spills, washwater surges and operation malfunction can all lead to sudden variations in BOD, COD and nutrients. Continuously monitoring final effluent prior to discharge using the ORAKEL System can significantly minimise the risk of pollution and resulting fines.