The treatment of wastewater

There are many ways to improve wastewater before a treatment process. These can be;

• Using minimal and environmentally friendly cleaning products.
• Removing solids from the wastewater.
• Checking the water pH and adjusting to aid microbial breakdown.

For wineries that manage their own wastewater, pre-treatment to remove solids is necessary so that the demand on treatment processes is minimised.

Methods used include:

• rotating strainers that remove coarse solids
• settling wastewater in tanks or shallow ponds to separate the heaviest solids

Separated solids can be composted except for those containing diatomaceous earth, a silicon product, which is unsuitable for composting.

We have included two images of the settling tanks and collection points for gathering the solids which are taken from the article below.

This webpage will provide you with additional reading Management and re-use of treated winery wastewater (Part 1): New Zealand wineries