Integrierte Vermeidung und Verminderung der Umweltverschmutzung

Chapter 3
Surface water
23%
Other water supply
3%
Ground water
27%
Municipal water
supply
37%
Figure 3.2: Water consumption by the German FDM industries in 1998
[182, Germany, 2003]
Bank-filtered water
4%
Spring water
6%
In the FDM sector as a whole, about 66 % of the total fresh water used is of drinking water
quality. In some sectors, like dairies, soft drinks and mineral water manufacturing and
breweries, up to 98 % of the fresh water used is of drinking water quality.
3.1.1.2 Waste water
Although the FDM sector is an extremely diverse sector, certain sources of waste water are
common to many of its sectors. These include:
• washing of the raw material
• steeping of raw material
• water used for transporting or fluming raw material or waste
• cleaning of installations, process lines, equipment and process areas
• cleaning of product containers
• blowdown from steam boilers
• once-through cooling water or bleed from closed-circuit cooling water systems
• backwash from regeneration of the WWTP
• freezer defrost water
• storm-water run-off.
3.1.1.2.1 Quantity of waste water
The FDM sector has traditionally been a large user of water as an ingredient, cleaning agent,
means of conveyance and feed to utility systems. Large FDM processing installations can use
several hundred cubic metres of water a day. Most of the water not used as an ingredient,
ultimately appears in the waste water stream.
Substantial reductions in the volume of waste water generated in this sector can be achieved
through waste minimisation techniques (see, e.g. Section 4.1.7.6). There is no simple
relationship between the amount of water used in cleaning and hygiene standards, and food
safety legislation requirements prevent water use minimisation from causing unsatisfactory
levels of cleanliness, hygiene or product quality.
Waste water flowrates may be very variable on a daily, weekly or seasonal basis. The waste
water profile is largely dependent on production and cleaning patterns. In some sectors, e.g.
sugar beet and olive oil production, processing takes place on a campaign basis and there is little
or no waste water generated for part of the year.
116 January 2006 RHC/EIPPCB/FDM_BREF_FINAL