Page 16 - AW SEPOCT 2019

ADVERTORIAL

Building wastewater plants at

F&B facilities

This was a challenge faced by ABFT’s
Ovaltine plant in Samutprakarn, Bangkok,
Thailand. Since its establishment in 1989,
ABFT has always outsourced its wastewater
treatment to an external service provider.
But as Ovaltine’s manufacturing operations
in Thailand expanded over the years,
its increased wastewater flow slowly
exceeded the service provider’s capacity
for wastewater treatment. Rolf shared, “It
was high time for us to build a wastewater
treatment plant within the Ovaltine factory
to support our expanding production
processes. The difficulty was that we did
not have a large area to accommodate
massive wastewater treatment solutions,
so we needed compact solutions that can
effectively treat the effluent.”
Building wastewater plants at F&B
facilities can be challenging due to
n recent years, manufacturers from a variety of markets
Iare increasingly taking steps toward future-proofing their changes in influent conditions brought on by factors such
businesses. Ensuring sustainable development is one of the as load shocks, changes in temperature and production,
most popular ways that companies of today protect their and limited equalization capacity. Rolf was determined
present and future assets effectively. to incorporate a solution that could handle the plant’s
Associated British Foods Thailand (ABFT), an Associated peak-loads and fluctuations in wastewater processing.
British Foods (ABF) Group subsidiary under the Twinings Amongst the providers that submitted proposal solutions
Ovaltine (TwO) business unit, is one company that strongly to ABFT, Veolia Water Technologies (Veolia) stood out with
believes in working toward sustainable outcomes to ensure its unique wastewater plant design.
business success in the long-term. The manufacturer Rolf elaborated, “Veolia designed a vertical wastewater
behind one of the world’s most loved beverages, Ovaltine, plant to optimize the given space. It was brilliant because
is part of the large, diversified international food ingredients it would allow us to achieve our wastewater objectives
and retail organization, which encourages its business units without having to compromise on our parameters. Veolia
to minimize its impact on the environment. has a strong reputation in this industry, and by drawing
According to its 2016 Corporate Responsibility Report, on its global network of expertise, the Veolia team was
ABF obtained 49% of its total energy from renewable confident of customizing a wastewater treatment plant for
sources, recycled 78% of total waste generated, and maximum efficiency. We were also appreciative of Veolia’s
reduced its gross greenhouse gas emissions by 9%. Rolf local presence in Bangkok, as on-the-ground support was
Haas, Regional Engineering Manager at ABFT, shared, a critical consideration for us.”
“Environmental sustainability is taken very seriously at In addition to providing a conceptual 3D design
TwO. We are active participants in reducing our energy of the proposed wastewater treatment plant, Veolia
and water footprint amongst other activities to achieve collected ABFT’s effluent to conduct a preliminary study.
business sustainability.” An anaerobic biodegradability test was carried out to
One of the largest concerns facing manufacturers evaluate the extent of COD removal and the potential for
from the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry is wastewater biogas production. Veolia then worked closely with Rolf
management. The effluent can be challenging to treat and ABFT’s engineers to identify the right combination of
as it is often loaded with organic matter like fats, oils, wastewater technologies that would yield the most ideal
and greases (FOGs). Due to the high chemical oxygen results for the Ovaltine facility.
demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) found in At the same time, Veolia had to tackle fluctuations
the industry’s effluent, effective wastewater treatment is in the influent, minimize operating costs, work within
important to prevent high organic loading in streams and the available land area, and design a turnkey solution
municipal treatment plants. that integrates flawlessly into the existing plant. Michael
Poonpipat, Business Development Director, Projects,

14 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Asian Water