TREATMENT PLANT FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGES INDUSTRY

Gone are the days when life was simple, and the choices you had to make to run your life were few indeed.

- For travel, one either walked or took the bullock cart : We now have to choose between a two wheeler, three wheeler, four wheeler, bus, train, metro or an aeroplane.

- A meal consisted of anna , saaru, Mosaru : We now have a choice of exotic cuisines ranging from Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Andhra ( Andhra Chinese, Andhra Punjabi, Andhra continental ) Chettinad,  Kerala, Punjabi, Bengali, Italian, Spanish, and of course the All American  Pizza, burger and the Colonel's chicken

- Guests to home were offered buttermilk or coffee/ tea. We now have a surfeit of beverages on offer : A variety of packaged fruit juices, High and Lo calorie soft drinks, Lassi in various avatars, flavoured milk concoctions,  Green tea, Jasmine tea,  etc. ( aptly bundled under the name infinitea), and a choice of other potent brews prescribed by Dr. Mallya.

I had to face one such situation some time back in a training session.  I confess for once, I was spoilt for choice.

48. TREATMENT PLANT FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES

About 20 yeas ago, The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ( KSPCB) with financial aid and technical support from DANIDA ( The Danish Govt. Aid Agency)  set up the Environmental Training Institute ( ETI ), operating out of a small rented premises on Wheeler Road in Cox Town, Bangalore.  The mandate of the ETI was to spread Environmental awareness among the general populace and also impart specialized training for industry representatives in various aspects of preserving and enhancing the Environment, as envisaged in the Water ( Prevention and Control of Pollution ) Act, 1974 and the Environment ( Protection) Act, 1986.  DANIDA was also instrumental in putting together the training materials in the form of a dossier for each specialized topic, which was then distributed to the PCB’s of the four Southern states.  A novel overhead projector was also gifted to ETI by DANIDA, which could project from printed material on plain paper directly on to the screen : no need for fussy acetate flimsies !

I was one of the Resource persons selected by KSPCB and ETI to conduct 2 day interactive training sessions on Industrial Wastewater Treatment for small batches of industry representatives in various towns of Karnataka. 

DANIDA also organized a training session for us Trainers over a three day residential program : the venue was a pleasant resort called Greenacres on Bellary Road, near the new Bangalore International Airport.  Carstens Bronsted was the expert deputed by DANIDA to train us.  Carstens’ program was not on the contents of the training material, but on matters of effective communication, interactive and participative training, timing and pacing of the training,  and about attention spans of trainees, case studies during class hours and assignments for after hours,  and how to keeping trainees awake and regaled during post noon sessions after lunch.  The training under the Master was thoroughly enjoyable and I practice many of his teachings and precepts to this day.

On behalf of the ETI, now very ambitiously rechristened the Environment Management and Policy Research Institute ( EMPRI), I have conducted several training sessions on Industrial Wastewater Treatment.  At the EMPRI’s vast new green campus in Peenya, I have also conducted the two day training program for a fresh batch of KSPCB officer recruits.  Alas, my mandate was only to train them on technical matters pertaining to wastewater treatment and not on ethical and moral conduct of Government business.

The EMPRI once requested me to conduct a training session on Wastewater treatment in the Food and Beverages industry.  It left me scratching my head for a very very long time : the list of food and beverage industry wastewater treatment addressed by me during my career by that time was long indeed :

-     Bakery  ( Modern Bread)

-          Biscuits ( Sunfeast )

-          Breweries ( UB, Sab Miller )

-          Coffee pulping in coffee estates ( Several)

-          Confectionery and Chocolates ( NP Confectionery)

-          Corn processing ( Mysore )

-          Dairies and milk chilling centers ( Several all over India )

-          Distilleries  (Several )

-          Edible oil refineries ( KLN, Siddaganga, etc.)

-          Egg processing ( Ovobel )

-          Fish processing ( Britannia )

-          Flour mills ( Big four - Bangalore )

-          Fruit & Vegetable canneries ( IQF )

-          Instant coffee/ tea plants  ( Brooke Bond, Lipton )

-          Jams, squashes, ketchup ( Kissan, Hindustan Unilever))

-          Mushrooms ( Hindustan Lever )

-          Packaged foods (ITC )

-          Palm oil mill effluent ( Karnataka Oswal Oilpalms Ltd.))

-          Poultry processing / abettoirs ( Godrej )

-          Soda pop ( Aerated soft drinks – Thums up, Coke)

-          Starch and sago from tapioca ( Several in Salem Dt.)

-          Sugar plants ( Several in Maharashtra, Karnataka)

Etc.

Given this vast diversity of wastewaters and the treatment schemes involved, I confess, for the first time I took the easy way out and doubtless bored my audience with generalities of treatment. 

Lunch break came as a Godsend for all, when we were in turn treated to some good food and beverages by EMPRI.

Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal                                                                 December 25, 2011