Bakeries play a crucial role in the food supply. There, work begins deep in the night to present a wide range of bread, rolls, baguettes, cakes or sweet bites in the morning. As in any area of food production, hygiene is particularly important. There is often oil in the water, as well as fat, sugar or yeasts. Wastewater treatment in bakeries is therefore an important part of the production process.
Wastewater treatment in bakeries
Bakeries secure the daily food requirements
Especially in Europe, baked goods play a crucial role. On no other continent do the inhabitants consume so much bread, rolls and sweet pastries. The morning visit of the bakery is a fixed ritual for many. Ireland is the world leader. The island nation eats almost 85 kilograms of baked goods per capita and year, far ahead of the Netherlands, which has around 78 kilograms per capita and year.
In Germany, bread is the number one staple food. Although the Egyptians developed the first yeast cultures around 4,000 years ago, which gave rise to around 30 types of bread, today there are around 3,000 types of bread for daily sale in Germany. The baker’s trade has a long tradition, and its popularity is still unbroken today.
Wastewater treatment in bakeries plays a decisive role worldwide. There is often oil in the water, as well as butter and sugar from sweet baked goods, starch, flour and dough residues, yeast and cleaning agents. The wastewater comes mainly from washing and cleaning processes. The hygiene of all work surfaces and tools is important here, as is the regular washing of hands by all employees. This results in an increased chemical oxygen demand (COD). In confectionery shops, this can be up to 60,000 mg/l. Nitrogen and phosphorus are also above average, with up to 2,000 mg/l and 60 mg/l respectively. The result can be a lower pH value, which is why wastewater treatment in bakeries is very important.
Wastewater treatment in bakeries is an important process step
Wastewater treatment in bakeries therefore often requires several treatment steps, which the ClearFox® team combines with each other. Since the wastewater in bakeries occurs very irregularly, a buffer tank is often necessary to collect the wastewater and pass it on to the treatment stage at regular intervals. Upstream, a grease separator is often beneficial to filter butter residues and oil out of the water. For coarse residues in the wastewater, such as dough residues or fruit pits, a mechanical screening is suitable to reliably remove them.
The ClearFox® DAF, a dissolved air flotation system, is suitable as the first step in wastewater treatment in bakeries. It filters all suspended solids from the wastewater by binding flocculation aids and thus increasing their surface area. A fine aeration system carries the suspended solids upwards, where they collect as sludge. The system carries the sludge to the outside via a cone opening, thus separating it from the clear water.
Biological treatment, such as the ClearFox® FBBR and SBR processes are reliable solutions for wastewater treatment in bakeries. The fixed bed biological reactor consists of net tubes on which microorganisms can grow. They convert almost all dissolved substances into secondary sludge, which is separated from the clear water by a lamella clarifier. In the sequential batch reactor, an aeration system supplies the microorganisms with oxygen. The sludge sinks to the bottom of the treatment plant, where a clear water zone is created. A mammoth pump conveys this to the outside.
For many bakeries, it is important that they can concentrate on their daily business. Therefore, they need a wastewater treatment plant that treats the wastewater reliably and with low maintenance. ClearFox® solutions are easy to install in existing tanks. They are also mobile and modular. They can be moved and expanded as needed. The ClearFox® wastewater treatment plants are manufactured by the team on a turnkey basis in the main factory in Bayreuth, so that the time required for installation and commissioning is kept to a minimum. This makes ClearFox® treatment plants particularly suitable for wastewater treatment in bakeries.
