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Sewer Discharge Composition


JohninWV

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I have a bit of a local issue with the sewer folks. They want to know what I'm going to be sticking down the drain. I've given them a basic outline of the business practices including disposing of spent grain (local farmer pickup). They have asked if anyone else doing this might have a sewer discharge composition report from their local sewer folks.

So, I'm here to ask. Anybody have any test results from their local sewer department? They are really worried about what I'm pushing down the drain.

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Not that you don't already know this, but your discharge is totally dependent on what you are making, as well as your procedures. I do find it ironic that a WV water authority would be worried about what goes down the sewer......mining country, right?

Your welcome to contact my brother (PM me), who is a Env. Eng, specializing in water and wastewater treatment. Or, give your local Black & Veatch office if you need a PE to sign off on anything. They're the big boys on the black when it comes to waste water treatment, and have worked on pretty much every kind of industrial plant, including breweries and distilleries.

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Denver...

Thanks. I know it's dependent on what I make, I was just hoping someone had something that I could "adjust" to fit my plant.

I'm also sending all of my spent mash to a holding tank for cattle feed, so mostly it's cooling water and cleaning water going out.

I do find it interesting that the several guys down the road doing animal processing and other industrial jobs haven't had these issues. I'll send a PM.

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PM sent. One of the great things about distilling is that liquid wastes and BOD is even lower than it is for breweries. You don't sewer yeast. Or at least I don't. Stillage (which includes yeast) and rinse water all goes to our farmer. Caustic is recovered, and the rinse from that is really the only thing going down outside of bucket rinsing, and squeegie handiwork. Anything else...fruit waste, etc., can go to your local farmer for feed or compost.

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We recover caustic in a stainless steel tank. Caustic will continue to clean even when it's pretty damn dirty. A standpipe in the bottom of a caustic (CIP) tank can help get the solids to drop out, leaving less gunk to clog sprayheads. We drain foodgrade citric acid...but not before cleaning everything in the distiller: fittings, ss pails, etc.....acid won't last the way caustic will.

We use condenser/cooling water for the next mash, filling the mash cooler (which also has a heater), and adding sour mash from the stillage if needed. Then we mash in the next day with this hot, acidified water.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bump....

Anybody have a report from their sewage. I've just been denied access to public sewer. The sewer department is classifying me as industrial and there is a moratorium on new industrial connections. I'm trying to tell them most of my water is clean.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry, I missed this last post.

This is just an abstract, but the full article should contain the numbers you need. Also, if you want to call a Black and Veatch office to get a PE to sign off on figures on the typical distillery waste stream to make your local officials happy, I can assure you that they have the figures that you are looking for on file.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/25038952

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

I'd like to revive this thread. I'm looking at sewage service, and our rates are determined by our average effluent strength (BOD mg/ml).

Perhaps I should consult an engineer as suggested above, but just curious if anyone can share their own experiences establishing sewer service, and what BOD levels they've measured or calculated with their own processes. (and yes, I already know that each process is different)

Thanks!

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Max,

Our load has been really small. We give all of our wet stillage to a farmer so very little of that goes down the sewer; maybe a few gallons left in the hoses. We use caustic and PAA sanitizer to clean our fermenters and our mash tank, but it's very small amounts. Diluted with the water from our condenser cooling, it's such a small amount that it's really unnoticed. Of course, there is some residual alcohol that's spilled and/or dumped on purpose (like heads). We dilute that to less than 3% and put it down the drain. It's not much and the sewer doesn't mind. It hasn't affected my BOD, but it does affect my Organic Carbon loads. It's my understanding that a small amount of alcohol at low percentages is good for the bacteria in the sewer. Too high a % and it kills the helpful bacteria that help process the waste.

We're pretty strict here; 300 BOD is my maximum. I think it's the same for suspended solids. We don't ever hit those levels but we are very diligent in watching what we put down the drain. I'm positive the worse stuff we put down the drain is human waste and/or cleaning products for the floor, dishes, hand soap, etc.

I will say that we use a bunch of water. Its one the things I dislike about my setup and I'm not sure how to change it. I've gone to a chiller on my fermenters, but cooling for a condenser is a much bigger water hog. We also are below grade, so I have some pretty big grinder pumps to move my waste up to a gravity feed main.

Let me know if you need more info.

John

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