Brewery pH Adjustment System

This recently opened brewery with a large tour center needed an end-of-pipe pH adjustment system to control effluent pH to values within the wastewater treatment system permit limits. We engineered, procured, and constructed (EPC) a new pH adjustment system, which involved tying the sewer line into a new underground lift station that pumps wastewater at an average flow rate of 120 gallons per minute to two 4,500-gallon aboveground stainless steel reaction tanks. pH probes continuously monitor the wastewater’s pH, while chemical metering pump skids add caustic or acid to raise or lower the pH. One of the two aeration blower packages runs constantly to keep the reaction tanks well mixed and at a nearly uniform pH. To minimize scale buildup on the pH probes and reduce the need for operator intervention, the system includes an automated water wash pH probe cleaning system. If the effluent pH falls outside the desired range before the discharge point, a control valve shuts off the flow and diverts it back to the lift station. Our in-house fabrication and custom manufacturing facility fabricated the stainless-steel pH adjustment/reaction tanks along with the skid-mounted caustic and acid chemical feed systems.