Project Details

Project Delivery

Project Results

Discussion

Situation

Winery wastewater treatment is very important for the wine industry. Although the contaminants are considered easily degradable, they are often present in high concentrations. Due to the acid in the grapes, the pH before winery wastewater treatment is also low. This must not be allowed to flow into the environment without biological wastewater treatment, an acidification of the soil would be the result. In addition, the wastewater attacks the pipes through which it flows.

Eastern Bulgaria is known for its high-quality wine-growing regions. Directly on the Black Sea, our client processes grapes into high-quality white wines. After the harvest, the company produces around 1,200 cubic metres of wastewater from wine production per day. So, winery wastewater treatment is very important. The wastewater contains both solid and dissolved substances. The solid substances include peel residues and pips, while the dissolved substances include alcohol, sugar, grape juice, discolouration and cleaning agents. This results in a greatly increased biological oxygen demand.

Problem

Winery wastewater treatment is important in almost all stages of production. Especially in Bulgaria, the government passes on the costs for biological wastewater treatment to the companies. Therefore, the customer wanted a winery wastewater treatment system that is simple in design and works trouble-free.

Since wastewater from wine production is very irregular, the system must be able to handle overload and underload in equal measure. Since the company is constantly growing, it needs above all a modular and mobile winery wastewater treatment treatment plant. This can be expanded or moved to another location if necessary.

Solution

For this project, the ClearFox® team installed a winery wastewater treatment plant consisting of several 20-foot HC containers. Since the wastewater from wine production still contains solid residues such as skins or pips, a screening screw pre-cleans the wastewater mechanically at the beginning. Afterwards, it flows through a pH neutralisation unit before it enters the SBR reactor. This is where the biological wastewater treatment takes place. This produces sludge with a high water content. A dewatering unit reduces the volume of sludge to a minimum, which the customer then disposes of.

For this project, the ClearFox® team took over the complete planning. As there was no flat surface on the site to place the sea containers, the ClearFox® team planned concrete pillars of different heights on which the containers stand, thus compensating for the differences in height. The installers put the winery wastewater treatment plant into operation according to the plug & play principle and instructed all employees on site.