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5.3.4.3 Enhanced Gravity Settling<br />

To the knowledge of the authors no full scale installations of this type exist in fish<br />

processing plants.<br />

The recently developed process of enhanced gravity settling (Microsep) is described by<br />

its manufacturer (International Water Solutions Corporation) as a combination of a<br />

chemical reactor and a clarifier within a single plant. It generally requires pH adjustment<br />

of the wastewater prior to addition of an inert particulate carrier (l PC) and flocculent. The<br />

IPC, flocculent, and contaminants (solids, and O&G) form particles of sufficient weight to<br />

settle rapidly, thus requiring substantially smaller equipment compared to conventional<br />

clarification. The settled sludge is withdrawn from the clarifier and passed through a<br />

separation device to remove the IPC for reuse in the process, while the removed<br />

contaminants may be further dewatered. The type of IPC used depends on the particular<br />

application.<br />

The Microsep process has already been used successfully in wastewater treatment<br />

applications in a wide variety of industries. Recent preliminary testing of the bench scale<br />

Microsep process for TSS and COD removal from hold water of fishing boats showed<br />

promising results. With coagulant addition, TSS and COD removal efficiencies were<br />

95-99 %, and 81-91 %, respectively (pers. comm. with Mr. Rob Dash and Mr. Ken<br />

Peon of International Water Solutions Corporation, 1993). Microsep generally achieves<br />

sludges with 2-7 % solids concentrations without additional dewatering.<br />

5.3.5<br />

Biological Treatment<br />

Most seafood processing plants in BC are relatively small and are located along coastal<br />

areas where land is expensive and space limited (i.e. Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island,<br />

and Prince Rupert area). Land considerations alone can be an inhibitive factor in applying<br />

biological methods for pollution abatement in coastal zones (Chao et al., 1980). Further,<br />

most seafood processing operations are seasonal as they are dependent on the seafood<br />

catch. Another factor that may affect biological treatment is the low temperature of the<br />

wastewater which slows down biological activity. Wastewater temperature is a function<br />

of temperature of water used in the process, mixing of wastewater stream with water from<br />

ice melting, and inclusion of cooling water into the waste stream. Wastewater<br />

temperatures at B.C. fish processors could be as low as 40 C in winter (NovaTec pers.<br />

67

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