Case Studies
Effluent Treatment
Type of Project
- Water Treatment
- Mechanical Engineering
- Environmental
Outline of Project
The project was carried out at a small distillery near Glasgow. Effluent from the process includes spent lees with high organic content and slight acidity. The effluent is discharged to a pond where suspended solids settle out and some microbiological activity takes place. After treatment water is discharged to local streams.
Two problems were encountered. The first was that activity in the pond was not sufficient to reduce the levels of BOD and suspended solids to those required by the discharge consent. The second related to caustic which was used periodically to clean the plant. This was also discharged to the pond, causing pH changes which damaged the micro-organisms.
The caustic problem was solved by installing a holding tank in which the used caustic and the acidic spent lees were mixed. When discharged to the pond the mixture had an acceptable acidity.
It was proposed to improve the sluggish microbiological activity in the pond by a process of aeration.
Key Skills Used by Cadogan Consultants
- Engineering knowledge
- Measurement
- Design
- Project management and construction
- Post-implementation test work
