Abstract: The agriculture industry is especially vulnerable to forecasted water shortages. In the fresh and fresh-cut produce sector, conventional flume-based washing with recirculation exhibits high water demand. This leads to a large water footprint and possible cross-contamination of pathogens. These can be alleviated through advanced water reuse processes, such as membrane technologies including reverse osmosis (RO). Water reuse technologies effectively remove dissolved constituents but can easily foul without pre-treatment. Biological treatment is effective for the removal of organic compounds responsible for fouling, but not at the low temperatures encountered at most produce processing facilities. This study showed that the Microvi MicroNiche Engineering (MNE) technology effectively removes organic compounds (> 80%) at low temperatures (6-8 °C) from wash water. The MNE technology uses synthetic microorganism-material composites with negligible solids production, making it advantageously situated as an effective bio-pretreatment for RO. A preliminary technoeconomic analysis showed 60-80% savings in operation and maintenance costs (OPEX) when using the Microvi MNE technology for organics removal. This study and the accompanying economic analysis indicated that the proposed technology process will substantially reduce the cost barrier for adopting water reuse practices, thereby contributing to increased food safety and furthering sustainable water reuse processes across the agricultural industry.
Abstract: The efficient operation of any biological treatment
process requires pre-treatment of incompatible pollutants such as
acids, bases, oil, toxic substances, etc. which hamper the treatment
of other major components which are otherwise degradable. The
pre-treatment of alkaline waste-waters, generated from various
industries like textile, paper & pulp, potato-processing industries,
etc., having a pH of 10 or higher, is essential. The pre-treatment,
i.e., neutralization of such alkaline waste-waters can be achieved by
chemical as well as biological means. However, the biological pretreatment
offers better package over the chemical means by being
safe and economical. The biological pre-treatment can be
accomplished by using a blend of microorganisms able to withstand
such harsh alkaline conditions. In the present study, for the proper
pre-treatment of alkaline waste-waters, a package of alkalophilic
bacteria is formulated to neutralise the alkaline pH of the industrial
waste-waters. The developed microbial package is cost-effective as
well as environmental friendly.