Glanbia Nutritionals needed to develop a new facility capable of processing eight million pounds of milk daily for cheese and whey production. The project required supporting the development of the new wastewater discharge permits and delivering an EPC treatment system sized for the facility’s wastewater flow while meeting stringent regulatory requirements.
Our team helped establish permit limits with the state. To assist with site selection, we evaluated wastewater treatment requirements at four potential sites. We compiled data from the manufacturer’s other facilities and similar systems we previously designed/constructed to develop anticipated wastewater effluent parameters and limits. The state permitting agency incorporated our data into their model to create the permit limits.
Our team then delivered the system with accelerated greenfield design and construction. The system treats the plant’s three waste streams through a combination of equalization, anaerobic conditioning, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, a custom-fabricated aerobic membrane bioreactor (aMBR), post-aeration, a belt filter press for sludge dewatering, dissolved air flotation (DAF) units for fats, oils, and grease (FOG) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal, and a soil bed compost filter for odor control. To support services for operators to remain in compliance, an analytical lab was included. The plant treats the wastewater to high enough standards for direct discharge to the Great Lakes. Recognized for its exceptional technological innovations, the new processing facility earned two industry awards.
