Challenge

Ken's Foods, famous for its retail Ken's Steak House Salad Dressings as well as other grocery and food service products, opened up a production and packaging plant in McDonough, Georgia in 1996.  The McDonough plant needed a long-term effluent processing system or wastewater pretreatment process to meet the plant's immediate need, as well as groundwork for an envisioned expansion in three to five years.  Pre-treatment was needed for high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels, and fats, oil, & grease removal, typical with food processing plants.

Solution

After considering  both aerobic and anaerobic options, an aerobic biological treatment system from Davco Products was chosen.  This option provided for many economical savings, especially when considering an expansion at a later date.   The new system was to be sized for 40,000 gallons-per-day (gpd).

The Davco approach to the aerobic system:

• minimized capital investments
• offered flexibility in the process and design
• lowered electrical costs and waste disposal costs

The total turnkey plant, designed, manufactured, constructed, and serviced by Davco Products, consisted of:

• Hydro-seive, stationary screen for "large, screenable" solids
• Screening for free-floating oils, recovered for sale as a byproduct
• Equalization tanks to create a homogeneous wastewater stream and for protection of overflow conditions
• Dissolved air flotation for the emulsified fats, oil, & grease
• Complete-mix steel field-erected treatment plant for biological activated sludge processing
• In 2001, a second activated sludge plant was added during the expansion, providing for an elevated capacity of 80,000 gpd.
• An auxiliary clarifier was added to process filtrate from a sludge-processing operation.

Consulting engineer for Ken's Foods was Advantage Engineering, Atanta, Georgia.

Results

The Ken's Foods pre-treatment plant in McDonough, Georgia continues to produce high quality wastewater effluent that is received by the Henry County municipal plant.

Davco Products was able to deliver the initial plant within eight months, the time needed for production to stay on schedule at the new processing plant.  With the initial plant, and the expansion, the treated effluent discharge levels and the budget - were on target.