Brewery Wastewater Treatment Processes

Wastewater treatment is an important aspect of any industry where the water is used as water is a very essential natural resource. But owing to rising population and ever increasing demand the consumption of water has increased to many folds. Therefore there is a dire need to conserve water from all the resources and wastewater treatment is one such area.

Brewing industry consumes lots of water and if not treated it will not remain useful for any purpose. Thus to make it safe for human needs and for other purposes treatment is done. Water treatment is done through three ways viz.

• Physical Treatment
• Chemical Treatment
• Biological Treatment

Physical Water Treatment
In this kind the solid pollutants are removed from the wastewater through different processes like sedimentation, flow equalization, screening, grit removal and gravity sedimentation.

In the process of flow equalization the wastewater effluent are unified in holding tanks before sending the water for further treatment. In screening waste like glass, pebbles, bottle caps and all are removed by some barrier. After screening this water is passed through grit chamber to remove sand, grit, and small stones. Sedimentation is also a great technique of removing waste like suspended solids and other organic and inorganic constituents. The water is allowed to stand for certain period of time and the with the natural gravity these particulates get suspended at the bottom.


Chemical Treatment
pH adjustment and flocculation are the two important chemical treatment techniques to treat the wastewater in brewing industry. pH needs to be balanced as both the alkaline as well as acid water are harmful for consumption. Neutral water has pH at 7. In flocculation process the water is stirred so that coagulation occurs.


Biological Treatment
Various micro-organisms are used in treating the wastewater biologically. For this both aerobic as well as anaerobic micro-organisms are used. Also there is a three step biomethanation process under biological treatment of waste water in brewery industry.