Water conservation and effluent minimization: Case study of a poultry slaughterhouse

This paper discusses a case study carried out at a poultry slaughterhouse. The main objective was to propose the optimization of the use of water in the productive process and the reduction of the organic and hydraulic loads in the liquid effluents generated in the industrial process. From the identification of the points where water is used and wastewater is produced, the water balance of the industrial process was evaluated. The industrial slaughtering and cleaning/sanitizing processes are the major water consumers and generators of liquid effluents, which are responsible, respectively, for 62% and 9% of the total water consumed. The recycling of effluents from the desensitization tank, the cooling towers and the defreeze of the cooling tunnel and the storage chambers would lead to a 12% reduction of the consumed water, 10% of the generated effluent and US$ 6500 per year in the wastewater treatment costs. It was concluded that the company can reduce its hydraulic and organic loads by combining water consumption reduction practices, recycling water in other processes, controlling excessive contamination of wastewater by fat and blood residues, and substituting the products utilized in its cleaning processes.