More and more people include game meat in their diet. Whether in the pan, in the oven or on the grill, game meat offers an extraordinary, flavourful variety. Game meat processing is very complex. Hunters must follow many steps to produce tender meat from animals of different ages. This produces wastewater, the treatment of which is particularly important.
Wastewater treatment in game meat processing
The benefits of game meat processing
The game meat consumption differs from region to region. In Europe, roe deer, wild boar and hares are particularly present, while in Australia, the meat of kangaroos is a popular food. There, the inhabitants eat around 1.5 million animals annually, making the continent the world’s largest processor of game meat.
With game meat, consumers can be sure that they are getting a regional product. There are numerous hunters who organise themselves in associations and control – under strict conditions – the game population in local forests. They usually take the hunted animals to a butcher who is specialised in game meat processing. The sale of the meat remains regional, eliminating long transport routes.
The popularity of game meat results from the animals’ way of life. They grow up without the intervention of humans and move around a lot. Their diet is particularly varied, so they must feed on what nature has to offer them. This makes the meat particularly low in fat and rich in B vitamins, calcium, and unsaturated fatty acids.
Game meat processing produces wastewater that must not be allowed to flow into the environment without treatment. Hunters already learn in their training that hygiene is a crucial part of game meat processing. Hanging upside down and with running water, they process the animals into meat portions. As a result, blood, fats, oils and urine in particular mix into the wastewater.
The advantages of ClearFox® wastewater treatment plants
ClearFox® solutions are well suited for wastewater treatment in game meat processing: The ClearFox® DAF removes suspended solids in the wastewater through flotation. Flocculants bind the suspended solids so that an aeration system can carry them upwards, where the plant discharges them to the outside via a cone-shaped funnel opening.
The ClearFox® FBBR and SBR are two biological treatment processes. The fixed-bed reactor consists of net tubes where the microorganisms in the wastewater settle. These process almost all dissolved substances in the wastewater and produce secondary sludge. A lamella clarifier separates the purified water from the sludge. The Sequential Batch Reactor supplies the wastewater with oxygen at fixed intervals. This causes the microorganisms in the wastewater to grow and process the dissolved substances. These sink to the bottom of the reactor, forming a clear water zone on top. An airlift pump discharges the clear water to the outside.
ClearFox® plants are particularly suitable for wastewater treatment in game meat processing because they are modular and mobile. If necessary, they can be expanded and moved to another location. This is made possible by the ISO sea containers in which the plant technology is installed. This means that all plants can be easily transported by truck or ship. The customer receives a turnkey system that reduces on-site installation time to a minimum.
