Slaughterhouse Wastewater: Treatment, Management and Resource Recovery

Abstract

The meat processing industry is one of the largest consumers of total freshwater used in the agricultural and livestock industry worldwide. Meat processing plants (MPPs) produce large amounts of slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW) because of the slaughtering process and cleaning of facilities. SWWs need significant treatment for a sustainable and safe discharge to the environment due to the high content of organics and nutrients. Therefore, the treatment and final disposal of SWW are a public health necessity. In this chapter, the regulatory frameworks relevant to the SWW management, environmental impacts, health effects, and treatment methods are discussed. Although physical, chemical, and biological treatment can be used for SWW degradation, each treatment process has different advantages and drawbacks depending on the SWW characteristics, best available technology, jurisdictions, and regulations. SWWs are typically assessed using bulk parameters because of the various pollutant loads derived from the type and the number of animals slaughtered that fluctuate amid the meat industry. Thus, an on-site treatment using combined processes would be the best option to treat and disinfect the slaughterhouse effluents to be safely discharged into receiving waters.

Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment Plant Design Advancements

“…Due to the composition variations of PSW, the treatment plants are said to be dynamic [19], as a result, the treatment methods require a combination of processes that will treat and disinfect the wastewater on-site [20]. These methods are similar to those used at municipal WWTWs and comprise of 1) pre-treatment, 2) primary, 3) secondary, and 4) tertiary treatment processes [21].…”

“…3) Secondary treatment process Secondary treatment processes are biological systems, namely anaerobic and aerobic, that reduce the concentration of organic material and deactivate pathogens using bacteria [8]. Anaerobic treatment has been identified as the ideal biological treatment due to its success in treating high strength wastewater with less multifaceted equipment requirements, high removal of COD, and methane production which is capable of counterbalancing the energy costs of abattoir [20], [26].…”

“…The effluent of anaerobic digesters still encompasses soluble organic matter and nutrients which can be effectively treated by aerobic methods, and as a result aerobic treatment, which operates at rates higher than anaerobic methods, is applied as post-treatment for anaerobic effluent. The advantages of this treatment method include reducing odours, speedy biological growth rates, and quick modifications to temperature and loading rate changes [20]. However, aerobic treatment has a high energy requirement due to aeration and high sludge [29].…”

“…Tertiary treatment processes that are utilized for treating PSW include advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), and membrane filtration systems and these processes are considered to be highly expensive [6]. The AOPs are founded on physico-chemical processes that produce powerful oxidative species which enables the oxidation and degradation of organic matter without the use of additional chemicals that might result in the formation of harmful by-products [20], [33]. Membrane processes are considered to be ideal for disinfection and water polishing, to a point where the treated water meets the standards of portable water for they are exceptional at removing small particles, and residual N and P. Even though membrane filtration does not require temperature monitoring, the presence of FOG may result in clogging of the membrane [17].…”

Current and Functional Reactor Designs in Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment

“…Poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) is generated from bird slaughtering, de-feathering, bird washing, deboning and bird trimming activities [1]. Furthermore, poultry wastewater also consists of high FOG which is of great concern for anaerobic digestion technology.…”