Characterization of brewery wastewater composition

Abimbola Motunrayo Enitan,Faizal Bux,Josiah Adeyemo,Feroz Mahomed Swalaha,Sheena K Kumari

doi:10.51415/10321/2992

Abimbola Motunrayo Enitan, Faizal Bux + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.51415/10321/2992

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Abstract

Industries produce millions of cubic meters of effluent every year and the wastewater produced may be released into the surrounding water bodies, treated on-site or at municipal treatment plants. The determination of organic matter in the wastewater generated is very important to avoid any negative effect on the aquatic ecosystem. The scope of the present work is to assess the physicochemical composition of the wastewater produced from one of the brewery industry in South Africa. This is to estimate the environmental impact of its discharge into the receiving water bodies or the municipal treatment plant. The parameters monitored for the quantitative analysis of brewery wastewater include biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, ammonia, total oxidized nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, phosphorus and alkalinity content. In average, the COD concentration of the brewery effluent was 5340.97 mg/l with average pH values of 4.0 to 6.7. The BOD5 and the solids content of the wastewater from the brewery industry were high. This means that the effluent is very rich in organic content and its discharge into the water bodies or the municipal treatment plant could cause environmental pollution or damage the treatment plant. In addition, there were variations in the wastewater composition throughout the monitoring period. This might be as a result of different activities that take place during the production process, as well as the effects of peak period of beer production on the water usage.

Highlights

PRODUCTION of beer includes blending and fermentation of maize, malt and sorghum grits using yeast, which requires large volumes of water as the primary raw material
Brewery wastewater samples were analyzed for parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS), Total Solids (TS), Volatile Solids (VS), temperature, pH, Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP), alkalinity, Total Chemical Oxygen Demand (TCOD), Soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand (SCOD), BOD5, conductivity, crude protein, sulphates, orthophosphate, ammonia, Total Oxidized Nitrogen (TON), nitrite and nitrates according to Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater [10]
The results showed that the effluent produced from the brewery industry did not meet the discharge limit for wastewater disposal to water bodies according to the European Union (EU) discharge limits [12], the local effluent discharge standards do vary from one location, region and country to another

Summary

Introduction

PRODUCTION of beer includes blending and fermentation of maize, malt and sorghum grits using yeast, which requires large volumes of water as the primary raw material. The amount of water needed to brew beer is several times the volume brewed. An average water consumption of 6.0 hectoliters is required to produce one hectoliter of clear beer [1]. Large volumes of water are being used by the industry for production of beer for two distinct purposes; as the main ingredient of the beer itself and as part of the brewing process for steam raising, cooling, and washing of floors, packaging, cleaning of the brew house during and after the end of each batch operation. Enitan is with the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology, P.

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