Distillery Waste Water Characterization

MT-Distillery

We are expanding capacity to a site that will use a septic system for the waste streams.  Waste water consists of sanitary waste and CIP/wash down water.  Does anyone have characterization information for the CIP/wash down water to use as an initial basis for discussion with county and state.  Our county is primarily interested in BOD.

Kindred-Spirits

What processes are you using CIP for? Which spirits are you making? What cleaners are you using with your CIP system?

MT-Distillery

CIP is used for caustic wash (1-2% brewguard powdered brewery cleaner) and acid wash (1-2% food grade citric acid) of 800 gallon mash tun, 800 gallon fermenter, and 800 gallon stripping still.  Our expansion still will be dedicated to mashing, fermenting, and stripping 100% rye flour.  The product will be finished at our existing facility making vodka, gin, and whiskey.

SlickFloss

     Hey how’s it going congrats on an expansion they’re a lot of fun, if you have a few more and need help making leaps into larger equipment sets and efficiencies of scale keep me in mind. Anyways we make a lot of rye, alottttt of it we clean it a lot and when mash gets down the drain, which it will because it always does some how, and waste water systems do not like mash.
they say they’re only concerned about BOD now, which is great because that can be buffered with a little investment using ozone gas or o instead water but PH and TSS (if too much mash/stillage down drain) are two things they’re probably going to learn they care about after a while.

if I were you I would neutralize ph before discharge, and dilute with ozonated water. TSS will lower from addition of liquid volume, ph buffer and extra dilution will be money for the bugs in the system, and ozone will keep enough oxygen in suspension for them to metabolize if you don’t kill the bugs no one will ever ask you what you put down the drain