9420.pdf

3 WATER CONSUMPTION AND WASTEWATER CHARACTERISTICS
3.1 Water Consumption
Water consumption depends upon a number of factors, including the species processed,
applied water conservation techniques, processing technology and type of finished
product. High water consumption was generally encouraged in the past to control plant
sanitation. Recently, successful efforts have been made to decrease water consumption
without compromising the plant sanitation (Sections 5.2.2 and 6.2).
A review of water consumption rates reported in literature is presented in Table 3.1.
Stone et al. (1981) reported that the amount of water used for each unit of production
decreases as daily production increases. The same was observed and reported by
NovaTec Consultants Inc. and EVS Environment Consultants (1994). A very high water
consumption per unit of production that occurs on low production days is believed to be
due to a high base line water consumption related to activities like equipment and plant
cleanup.
Water conservation techniques and modifications in processing technology can reduce
water consumption significantly (see Sections 5.2). Implementation of water conservation
techniques at fish processing facilities in Northern Europe resulted in up to 50% reduction
of the water consumption (NovaTec Consultants Inc., 1993a).
Water consumption is also a function of the type of species processed. The highest
water consumption is reported for groundfish processing. It can amount to 154 L/kg
(Table 3.1). The lowest water consumption is reported for oyster and clam processing,
only 0.2 and 0.6 L/kg respectively (Table 3.1 ).
Typical water consumption rates at fish processing facilities in B.C. are presented in
Table 3.2.
Water consumption at B.C. fish processing facilities generally fall in the range reported
in literature (Table 3.1). However, when typical water consumption rates are compared
with rates reported at facilities which implemented water conservation techniques, it can
be seen that there is still considerable room for improvement. For example, water
consumption at salmon processing facilities in Northern Europe that have implemented
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