Presented at the December 2018 MBAA Manitoba Meeting

1. Wastewater: Treatment,
Sustainability, and Legislation
Tanner Ryan Devlin

2. Brewery wastewater
• Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
• Total suspended solids (TSS) – volatile (VSS) and fixed (FSS)
• Nitrogen – total ammonia nitrogen (TAN)
• Phosphorus – total (TP) and orthophosphate (OP)
Treatment options:
1. Physical – removes at least a portion of everything as solid matter
2. Chemical – mostly for conditioning of solids, dome detoxification
3. Biological – removal of soluble nutrients
Constituents
Organic compounds

3. What goes in must come out
Brewery wastewater
Sources
Developed from Valta (2015)

4. What goes in must come out
• Cleaning agents
• Residual wort
• Residual beer
• Spent grain
• Trub
• Excess yeast
Brewery wastewater
Sources
pH, toxicity
Soluble nutrients
Solids

5. Brewery wastewater
• Water to beer ratio governs concentrations (not loads!)
• Typical water/beer from 4-17 (average ~7)
• <3.5 wastewater/beer ratio considered good
Constituents
Parameter Range
Biochemical oxygen demand 600 to 5,000 mg/L
Chemical oxygen demand 1,800 to 5,500 mg/L
Total nitrogen 30 to 100 mg/L
Total phosphorus 30 to 100 mg/L
pH 3 to 12
Total suspended solids 200 to 1,500 mg/L
Developed from Brewers Association

6. Brewery wastewater
Regulations – discharge to sewer
• Depends on municipality
Parameter
Range in untreated
brewery wastewater
Winnipeg
MB1
Ottawa
ON2
Calgary
AB3 Removal in
Winnipeg
BOD, mg/L 600 to 5,000 300 300 300 50-94%
COD, mg/L 1,800 to 5,500 - - 600 -
TN, mg/L 30 to 100 60 100 50 0-40%
TP, mg/L 30 to 100 10 10 10 67-90%
pH, - 3 to 12 5.5 to 11 5.5 to 11 5.5 to 10 -
TSS, mg/L 200 to 1,500 350 350 300 0-77%
1 – City of Winnipeg SEWER BY-LAW NO. 92/2010
2 – City of Ottawa BY-LAW NO. 2003-514
3 – City of Calgary BYLAW NUMBER 14M2012

7. Brewery wastewater
Regulations – discharge to receiving body of water
• Mix of provincial and federal regulations
Parameter
Range in untreated
brewery wastewater
Manitoba1 Canada2
Removal
BOD, mg/L 600 to 5,000 25 25 96-99.5%
COD, mg/L 1,800 to 5,500 - - -
TN, mg/L 30 to 100 15 + Ammonia Ammonia 50-85%
TP, mg/L 30 to 100 1 - 97-99%
pH, - 3 to 12 5.5 to 11 5.5 to 11 -
TSS, mg/L 200 to 1,500 25 25 0-77%
Coliforms - 200/100 mL - -
1 – Manitoba Water Quality Standards, Objectives and Guidelines
2 – WSER

8. Brewery wastewater
Regulations – Winnipeg charges
• 2018 sewer rate = $2.80/m3 wastewater
• Paying >$11.20/m3 beer without penalties
• Penalties depend on frequency of enforcement

9. Brewery wastewater treatment
Typical configuration of a treatment facility
Equalization
Primary
treatment
Secondary
treatment
Tertiary
treatment

10. Equalization and conditioning
Facilities do not operate 24/7
Flows change with time
• Equalization promotes better treatment
• Equalization allows for chemical condition
pH adjustment, detoxification
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Flow(m3/h)
Time of day

11. Microscreen – rotary drum
Effective at removing TSS
Tried and true with screening down to 500 µm

12. Microscreen – rotary drum
Effective at removing TSS

13. Microscreen – rotary belt
Effective at removing TSS and some BOD
Down to 250 µm screening

14. Microscreen – rotary belt
Effective at removing TSS and some BOD

15. Dissolved air flotation – pre-treatment
Removal of fine particle TSS and some toxic compounds
Process
COD,
% rem.
TSS,
% rem.
Bound Quat,
% rem.
Free Quat,
% rem.
DAF 13 61 55 32
DAF+flocculant 34 93 78 51
DAF+flocculant+neutralizer 34 86 96 90
DAF+coagulant+flocculant - 92 94 90

16. Dissolved air flotation – pre-treatment
Removal of fine particle TSS and some toxic compounds

17. Moving bed-biofilm reactor
Removal of soluble, biodegradable compounds
But, produces biomass that must be removed

18. Moving bed-biofilm reactor
Removal of soluble, biodegradable compounds

19. Brewery wastewater
Adding nutrients for treatment!?
• Like yeast, bacteria need a mix of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus to grow
Parameter Case study Discharge limit
BOD 5,000 mg/L 300 mg/L
TN 60 mg/L 60 mg/L
TP 25 mg/L 10 mg/L
Must remove 4,700 mg/L of BOD
0.6 g-bacteria produced/g-BOD removed  2,820 mg-bacteria/L
Bacteria are ~7% nitrogen and ~1.5% phosphorus
For complete treatment, 197 mg-N/L and 42 mg-P/L required
Must add 137 mg-N/L and 17 mg-P/L
This is for aerobic treatment

20. Moving bed-biofilm reactor
Anaerobic vs. aerobic
• Anaerobic microorganisms produce less biomass
Parameter Case study Discharge limit
BOD 5,000 mg/L 300 mg/L
TN 60 mg/L 60 mg/L
TP 25 mg/L 10 mg/L
Must remove 4,700 mg/L of BOD
0.05 g-bacteria produced/g-BOD removed  235 mg-bacteria/L
Bacteria are ~7% nitrogen and ~1.5% phosphorus
For complete treatment, 17 mg-N/L and 3.5 mg-P/L required
Must remove 11.5 mg-P/L
Add chemical to remove phosphorus
12x less biomass!

21. Moving bed-biofilm reactor
Anaerobic vs. aerobic
• Anerobic bacteria produce methane

22. Dissolved air flotation – post-treatment
Removal of biomass from treated wastewater
May require cross-flow plate pack

23. Cloth disc filtration
Technology for water recovery and reuse – 10 µm
1. Reject waste
2. Drive motor
3. Vacuum pump
4. Vacuum line
5. Discharge trough
6. Discharge port
7. Effluent
8. Vacuum head
9. Filter disc
10.Sludge withdrawal

24. Cloth disc filtration
Technology for water recovery and reuse

25. Solids management
Be in control of your product
Fort Garry Brewery
Reuse of spent grains
Spent grains and trub reused as hog feed.
Free disposal by farmer!

26. Solids management
Reduce volume and stabilize
1. Feed hopper
2. Thermal fluid heater
3. Dryer
4. Scrubber/condenser
5. Cooling screw

27. Summary
Takeaway
1. Brewery wastewater > Schedule B discharge to sewer requirements
2. Frequency of enforcement/agreements on penalties governs cost/year
3. Cost of on-site treatment may be justified
4. Type of on-site treatment varies – pick most suitable
5. Be sustainable and smart