Industrial Wastewater Treatment
Treatment of high strength waste is the foundation of Pharmer Engineering. We provide services for numerous food processors including Bush Brothers, J.R. Simplot, Kraft, Glanbia and Basic American Foods.
Pharmer Engineering works with the industry to determine the treatment option that is best suited for the application. We provide general design, and build services, or we often implement the improvement through a design build team.
We understand the schedule and budgetary demands of the private sector and work with the client to provide the best engineering value for their requirements in an expedited manner.
Industrial Experience Examples of past industrial projects performed or led by Pharmer's water and wastewater professionals. The projects are divided into the following areas:
- Food and Beverage
- Meat Products
- Dairy Products
- Canned, Frozen and Preserved Fruits and Vegetables
- Grain Mill Products
- Sugar and Confectionery Products
- Miscellaneous Food Preparations and Kindred
- Multiple-Client Projects
- Chemical/Metals
Chemical/Metals
Army Ammunition Plant, Modesto, California
Design Manager for a groundwater cleanup treatment system. The project was conducted for the Army Corps of Engineers and included chromium removal by hydroxide precipitation and cyanide removal by ion exchange.Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona
Design Manager for an industrial wastewater treatment facility. The project was a redesign effort which involved directing flows from five building areas for treatment. Treatment included storm water equalization, oil/grease removal, iron coprecipitation for cadmium, filtration, ion exchange, and solids dewatering.Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Oregon
Lead Design Engineer for modifications to an activated sludge wastewater treatment process. The rehabilitation design involved reuse of existing treatment units to minimize cost with improvements to the RAS/WAS system and sludge land application system. The solids disposal design included a storage tank, mixing equipment, irrigation pumps, and irrigation system.Dairy Products
Kraft Foods, Farmdale, Ohio
Extensive wastewater system modifications were required to adhere to Ohio's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit changes. A conceptual design report was submitted in mid-September and design drawings were produced two weeks later for initiation of construction in mid-October. Nine design packages were prepared for bidding and construction of a covered anaerobic pond system followed by an aerobic pond. Temporary system designs kept the plant in compliance during the winter construction. The construction was completed through the winter and was operational within nine months.Kraft Foods, Lowville, New York
Pharmer Engineering was retained by Kraft Foods to evaluate a pH control system that was not meeting permit requirements. A carbon dioxide system was proposed and subsequently designed to provide effluent buffering and eliminate chemical handling issues with an existing sulfuric acid system.
Glanbia (formerly Avonmore West, Inc.)
Several planning projects were completed, including the following:
- Gooding, Idaho - Prepared a Facility Plan for submission to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as part of the land application permit renewal process. Developed feasibility and costs for high rate anaerobic treatment with gas collection and use in onsite boilers.
- Richfield, Idaho - Prepared a Facility Plan for submission to DEQ as part of the land application permit renewal process. Developed feasibility of inpipe nitrate reduction for land application.
- Twin Falls, Idaho - Developed conceptual plan for anaerobic treatment and prepared cost estimates. The anaerobic treatment concept was developed to pretreat the process waste and avoid a City assessment for wastewater treatment improvements.
Kraft Foods, Rupert, Idaho
Pharmer Engineering was retained to provide fast-track design for a new water treatment system. The water filtration and softening system was designed in two weeks with construction immediately following. In addition, Pharmer Engineering provided Kraft with technical specifications for additions to the whey system.LeSeuer Cheese, LeSeuer, Minnesota
The LeSeuer Cheese Plant contributed a significant load to a municipal lagoon system. The load caused considerable odor problems and prompted extensive modifications to the City's system. A design using an innovative earthen basin aeration system was implemented to better treat the wastewater before discharge into the existing lagoon system.Nelson Ricks Creamery Co., Rexburg, Idaho
The Nelson Ricks cheese plant was experiencing odor problems in their existing lagoons during the spring. The design implemented aspirating aeration equipment to keep the pond contents aerobic during the winter and shortening the spring turnover.Schreiber Foods, Logan, Utah
Pharmer Engineering was retained to design a new activated sludge treatment system to accommodate a plant expansion and meet POTW discharge limits. The new facility included a new pump station, three plug flow selectors, aeration basin and secondary clarifier.Smiths Dairy, Riverside, California
Design of a pretreatment system for a facility that discharges wastewater to the City’s treatment facilities. Prior to discharge, the pH needed to be adjusted to conform with discharge requirements. Carbon dioxide was the chemical of choice for pH control, as it is easy to use and is nonhazardous.Snake River Cheese, Blackfoot, Idaho
Proposed rate increases by the City of Blackfoot prompted an investigation into the feasibility of onsite pretreatment. Several biological systems were evaluated for cost and efficiency and compared to the surcharge. The pretreatment evaluation prompted the City to re-evaluate the surcharge structure and ease the implementation program, thereby negating pretreatment.Tillamook County Creamery Association, Tillamook, Oregon
The plant produces cheese, ice cream and butter, and processes over 1.2 million pounds of milk per day. The existing activated sludge plant was improved, including new pump stations, equalization, expanded aeration and clarification capacity, and improved chlorination and sludge storage. A phased construction approach was formulated to serve both immediate and future needs.Food and Beverage
Basic American Foods, Las Cruses, Mexico
Wastewater system separation and improvements project. This green chili pepper plant's land application site was cut in half, requiring the plant to discharge half of its waste to the municipal plant. An inplant sewer separation was necessary to segregate certain prohibited wastes and pretreatment was added.Bush Brothers Cannery, Dandridge, Tennessee
This bean processor land applies its wastewater. Population growth in the area led to increased odor complaints at the land application sites. In addition, stricter land application loading limits were expected during the facility’s next permit cycle. As a result, Pharmer Engineering evaluated wastewater treatment alternatives for Bush Brothers. Stemming from this evaluation, Pharmer Engineering designed a new high rate anaerobic treatment system including a new DAFT, sulfide oxidation, biogas utilization and a separate anaerobic digester for the DAFT float. The new treatment system has the ability to treat approximately 75,000 lb/d of chemical oxygen demand (COD).Del Monte Foods USA, Burley, Idaho
The plant land applies wastewater to a site that was showing signs of overload. An intensive wastewater sampling program was designed to characterize the wastewater. The sampling showed that wastewater characteristics changed dramatically during the season, depending on crop production (peas, corn, or lima beans). After the wastewater characteristics were established, a study evaluated various methods for treatment on a cost and feasibility basis. The alternatives evaluated included expanding the land application site with and without supplemental storage capacity, discharging to the City-owned treatment facility or to neighboring industrial treatment facilities, treatment and direct discharge to the Snake River, and flow reduction within the factory.Dickinson Frozen Foods, Fruitland, Idaho
Dickinson Frozen Foods is a major onion processor in Western Idaho. Wastewater generated by Dickinson is currently discharged to a municipal treatment facility in the rural City of Fruitland, Idaho. Due to production expansions, the organic load discharged to the City reached a level that created problems for the municipal treatment system. As a result, Dickinson retained Pharmer Engineering personnel for the planning, design, and construction of a new wastewater pretreatment system.
Pharmer Engineering developed an innovative and economical treatment system that included an aerated lagoon with diffused aeration followed by a clarifier. The treated effluent is discharged to the municipal treatment system with a 97 reduction in Biochemical Oxygen Demand. Biological solids generated by the treatment process are applied to adjacent land during the growing season. During winter months, solids are stored in the aerated lagoon.
Food Packaging Plant, Portland, Oregon
Design and construction management for separation of process water and potable water systems and air system modifications.Food Processor, Southern United States
Pharmer Engineering was retained by a food processor to perform wastewater treatment process and design for a new food processing facility in the southern United States. The process design identified the ability to treat the wastewater anaerobically and convert it to biogas which could then be utilized in the processing facility boiler system. The process design also identified the ability to increase biogas generation up to two times by adding waste processing solids to the anaerobic wastewater treatment system. The energy equivalency of the biogas generation system is 12 MW at maximum system loading.
Total construction cost for the anaerobic wastewater treatment system was $25 million. The facility includes a 0.63 million gallon preacidification tank, 20 million gallon primary treatment lagoon, and 16 million gallon secondary treatment lagoon. Pharmer Engineering provided detailed design for the entire system including the biogas handling system, process pumping and mixing systems, screening and process control systems. Design of the project was expedited to meet the start-up date of the processing facility, and is being built during design of the improvements with several packages issued throughout the duration of the project to allow construction to commence quickly and be completed as soon as possible.
Heinz Frozen Foods, Ontario, Oregon
Formally known as Ore-Ida, Heinz Frozen Foods (HFF) operates a potato processing facility in Ontario. Pharmer Engineering personnel have been associated with the treatment facilities for the past 15 years and were involved with the design, construction, and startup of the biotower/activated sludge treatment system during the early 1990s.
In September 2000, HFF required modifications to the plant which included the design of a new pumping system that allows primary clarifier effluent to bypass the biotowers. Pharmer Engineering was retained for this work, completed the mechanical and electrical design, and assisted HFF in the purchase of major equipment items.
Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) Potato Research Committee
Completed an overall potato wastewater management study in response to increasing regulations governing land application of wastewater. The objectives were to analyze the performance and cost of wastewater treatment processes that could be used to alleviate nitrogen buildup problems experienced in land application practices.J.D. Irving, Ltd., St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
Conceptual planning of treatment facilities for Cavendish Farms potato processing facility. The work included wastewater flow and loading projections based on estimated production levels, and evaluation of treatment processes to meet discharge requirements in the Saint John’s River. The treatment systems selected were preliminary screening, anaerobic lagoon treatment, and nitrification in an activated sludge biological selector system. Phosphorus reduction is accomplished by chemical precipitation. Solids generated and/or removed from the flow stream were then dewatered and landfilled.J.R. Simplot Company, Manitoba, Canada
Simplot Food Group built a new plant in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba that turns 2,000,000 pounds per day of fresh potatoes into a million pounds per day of french fries. At full buildout, the plant will generate 60,000 pounds per day of BOD that will be treated in a large low rate anaerobic reactor. Almost 375,000 cubic feet per day of biogas will be produced that, in turn, can produce 700 kilowatts of electricity, or 250 boiler horsepower.
The biogas is collected, compressed slightly, and piped to the plant’s boilers. The biogas augments natural gas and provides approximately 10 percent of the plant’s steam demand. Extremely cold winter temperatures in the northern prairies have made the Portage la Prairie biogas design a challenging and exciting project. Pharmer Engineering provided planning and design for the design/build portion of the project.
J.R. Simplot, Burley, Idaho
Provided planning, design and construction services for several projects, including:
- Primary Clarifier - Planning, design and construction of a new 75 foot diameter primary clarifier. Due to the corrosiveness of the potato wastewater, it was determined that the primary clarifier should be constructed out of Type 304 stainless steel.
- Wastewater Facilities Plan - The wastewater treatment plant receives processed wastewater from a potato fry plant as well as from an ethanol alcohol plant. The major issues addressed included chemical and biological phosphorus removal, grease removal and handling systems, replacement of an existing primary clarifier, and upgrades to the primary sludge pumping and thickening system.
- Pipeline River Crossing - Design and construction of a pipeline system crossing the Snake River. The pipelines transport wastewater and silt from the potato processing facility located on the north side of the River to the wastewater treatment facility located on the opposite side of the River. The pipeline system consisted of a 10 inch process line, a 6 inch silt line, a 6 inch spare line, and a ballast pipe. All of the pipes were constructed and connected together on shore, floated across the River, and positioned prior to submergence. Services included material analysis and selection, final design, permitting and easement acquisition, bidding, and construction management. The project was performed on a fast-track schedule and coordinated to meet the needs of the potato processing facility, as well as optimum river conditions for construction.
J.R. Simplot, Caldwell, Idaho
Conceptual report addressing short- and long-term wastewater growth factors and continued land application as well as river discharge. The conceptual report evaluated treatment systems including anaerobic pretreatment, secondary activated sludge treatment, and chemical and biological phosphorus removal (for river discharge).J.R. Simplot, Grand Forks, North Dakota
Preliminary design report for potato processing wastewater treatment. The existing wastewater treatment system consists of primary clarification and secondary activated sludge treatment. The treated wastewater is discharged to the municipal treatment plant.
Tasks included in the study were to review current flows and loads to the treatment system and project future flows and loads; review the current treatment objectives and investigate future permit requirements that could impact the capacity of the existing system; estimate the wastewater heat loss using surface aeration and diffused aeration systems (jet or coarse bubble); calculate process performance for current and future conditions without temperature conservation (surface aeration) and with temperature conservation (diffused aeration); develop aeration requirements for surface aeration, jet aeration, and coarse bubble diffused aeration systems; provide a capital and annual cost estimate for the three aeration systems evaluated; and provide recommendations for upgrading the existing treatment system to treat future flows and loads and meet anticipated permit requirements.
J.R. Simplot, Hermiston, Oregon
Provided planning, design, and construction services on several projects including:
- Primary Clarifier - The project included performing a settleability test to establish clarifier loading criteria, which was used to calculate the optimum size of the primary clarifier. A 55 foot diameter clarifier with steel tank was recommended. A turnkey design package was then prepared and bid to a prequalified list of contractors.
- Nitrogen Removal System Selection - The study evaluated aerobic biological treatment systems that could consistently and economically remove 70 to 90 percent of the nitrogen from the anaerobically treated wastewater prior to land application. Appropriate treatment technologies were rated based on a series of criteria including capital and operating costs, land requirements, full-scale applications, reliability and stability, and complexity of operation. The study led to a pilot study of predenitrification/nitrification in an activated sludge system.
- Solids Contact Anaerobic Treatment System - Design of an anaerobic treatment system consisting of a large 4.2 million gallon reactor vessel designed to treat up to 80,000 pounds of chemical oxygen demand (COD) per day. Services included preliminary design, detailed design, construction management, resident inspection, and startup assistance. Other facilities included in the design were a biogas handling system, chemical feed facilities, plate settlers, pumping facilities, and laboratory. The treatment system was designed as a pretreatment process (COD reduction) for future nitrogen removal treatment facilities.
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., Bordentown, New Jersey
The project was prompted by numerous odor complaints by neighbors and required fast-track management to mitigate the problem. Odors were generated by volatile organic acids formed in the process wastewater and stored in equalization basins prior to treatment. During a week long period, project team members assessed the situation, analyzed options, and prepared a predesign report which was presented to the client at the conclusion of the site visit.
The selected opinion was to cover the equalization basin with a clear span aluminum cover, install mechanical mixing in the equalization, and ventilate the odorous gases to the activated sludge treatment system through an existing diffused aeration system. This option was advantageous to the Owner, as separate odor treatment facilities did not have to be constructed and maintained. In order to ventilate the odorous gases, 400 feet of fiberglass duct was constructed between the covered basin and the existing centrifugal blowers, which supply compressed air to the diffused aeration system. The project was designed and major equipment items were bid and purchased directly by the Owner. The project was completed on schedule and below the estimated budget. Since project startup, there have been no odor complaints associated with the waste treatment system.
Ore-Ida Foods Inc., Boise, Idaho
Provided planning, design, and construction services on several projects including:
- Water Reuse - Completed a water reuse feasibility study and design for treating 300,000 gallons per day (gpd) of final effluent. Part of this water will be made up by defrost water (approximately 50,000 gpd). Using this water directly for reuse eliminates the need for it to flow through the secondary facilities, thereby reducing the hydraulic load on treatment facilities and discharge to the Snake River.
- Wastewater Treatment Upgrades - Design of a new recirculation pump station to be incorporated into an existing biofilter activated sludge treatment system. The pump station houses three 10,000 gpm pumps that pump a combination of primary effluent, RAS, and ABF recycle to the distribution system on the biofilters. Other work includes design of a second activated biofilter utilizing redwood media process design calculations and design for the selector, activated sludge system and aeration requirements, and replacement of the media in the existing activated biofilter with vertical flow plastic type media.
Ore-Ida Foods, Inc., Plover Wisconsin
Provided planning, evaluation, and design on several projects, including:
- Design of an activated sludge treatment system at a potato processing facility. Used benchscale testing to calculate process kinetics and sizing parameters, and designed a two-basin activated sludge system for nitrification with a selector channel designed for filament control. Also designed the primary treatment system, including solids dewatering, as well as the primary clarification system, the scum pumping and removal system, and site piping and plumbing.
- Wastewater characterization study that resulted from a 1 mg/L phosphorus limit imposed on the facility’s treated wastewater discharge to the Wisconsin River. Wastewater treatment at this facility includes screening, primary sedimentation, anaerobic treatment utilizing upflow, anaerobic sludge bed technology, nitrifying activated sludge, and belt filter press sludge dewatering. The study determined the primary sources of phosphorus in the wastewater, and evaluated methods to control the phosphorus either through changes in factory operations or treatment system modifications. A concept to control phosphorus through a combination of lime precipitation and biological phosphorus removal was developed. The study findings and plan were then used to negotiate a permit relaxation to an effluent phosphorus concentration of 6 mg/L.
- Phosphorus control treatability study and preliminary design to confirm the effectiveness and limitations of the recommended phosphorus control plan and to refine final design criteria.
- Final design of phosphorus control facilities.
Penwest Foods, Inc., Richland, Washington
Design and construction of a pretreatment system, which included an above ground, steel primary clarifier for removal of residual starch with a vacuum drum filter for solids dewatering. The primary effluent was followed by an anaerobic sludge blanket biological treatment system, which was designed to remove 85 percent of the total Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) prior to discharge to the municipal treatment works.Potato Processor, Blackfoot, Idaho
Bob Pharmer served as Project Manager for a design/build of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) advanced wastewater treatment facility for a food processor in Blackfoot, Idaho. The process treats potato wastewater to the equivalent of Class B reuse criteria. The MBR design met client objectives by reducing total nitrogen by 94. This allowed continued land application on the same site with greater plant output. The MBR system allows future discharge flexibility if direct discharge to the Snake River is pursued. The plant treats an average flow of 1.4 million gallons per day with a peak flow of 1.7 mgd. The population equivalent of the organic load is 70,000 persons. The anoxic and aeration tanks were bolted, baked epoxy coated steel tanks with fine bubble air diffusers. The three membrane trains were contained in rectangular steel tanks in a separate metal frame building. Transfer of recirculation flow was accomplished with a unique air lift pumping system to provide a twelve times denitrification recirculation flow. The system is fully automated and requires minimal operator attention. Total project cost was approximately $5 million.Grain Mill Products
Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Michigan
Provided planning, design and construction services on several projects including:
- Pilar, Argentina
Process selection and preparation of a turnkey bid package for a wastewater treatment facility to treat 182 cubic meters/day of process waste, 23 cubic meters/day of sanitary waste, and 22 cubic meters/day of filtrate return flows. Coordination between Kellogg’s corporate headquarters in the U.S. and onsite construction managers was required to ensure that local building and environmental requirements were met. Process selection was based on the client’s desire to have a system that was easy to operate, provided reliable treatment, and was cost effective. The system selected consisted of pumping, screening, equalization, pH adjustment, activated biotower, activated sludge, clarification, disinfection, and effluent monitoring prior to being discharged to a local river. - Guangzhou, China
Design of a wastewater pretreatment system required to remove coarse solids and adjust pH prior to discharge to a wastewater treatment facility that serves the industrial area of Guangzhou. - India and Venezuela
Wastewater treatment process review of two breakfast cereal processing facilities. The reviews included verifying flow and loading information, confirming unit process sizing criteria, identifying alternate treatment systems, calculating waste solids production, and verifying that the solids handling and disposal systems were adequate for the anticipated loads. The process reviews were used by Kellogg to initiate required changes in the design of the treatment systems, which resulted in a significant reduction in operational problems during startup.
Meat Products
SSI Wilder, Idaho
Lead Process Engineer for odor control investigations at a meat processing plant. The recommended solution was improved pretreatment with fine screening and DAF. The Lead Process Engineer was responsible for detailed design, equipment procurement, construction management and system startup. The project has successfully eliminated the odor problems and lessened the impact associated with wastewater land application.Swift Foods, Minnesota
Phosphorus Removal and Sludge Handling (Industrial Facility) - Project Manager and Lead Process Engineer for the design of wastewater phosphorus removal and sludge handling improvements. The industrial wastewater plant owned by the City serves a prominent pork processor that is the sole discharger to the 2 mgd plant. The chemical phosphorus removal is designed to meet a 1 mg/L total phosphorus limit.
The design included filtration by cloth media to provide assurance of meeting the phosphorus limits. The filter building included office and laboratory areas. Careful attention was paid to building materials to make the facilities attractive and blend into the surrounding area. The solids handling facilities include a gravity belt thickener designed to function as a thickener to minimize storage volume. Waste activated sludge is thickened and stored in two 126 foot diameter bolted steel sludge storage tanks. The liquid sludge is stored in the tanks until final disposal at land application sites.Miscellaneous Food Preparations and Similar
FritoLay, Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, California
Evaluation of pretreatment facilities for appropriate technologies which could achieve a minimum of 35 removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and 70 removal of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) from wastewater generated by corn snack food processing. Appropriate treatment technologies evaluated included dissolved air flotation, primary clarification, and fine screening. The evaluation also reviewed cost effective means of dewatering and disposal of the waste solids removed from the wastewater pretreatment facilities. The recommended system included coarse screens, a 35 foot diameter primary clarifier, and a belt filter press for sludge dewatering.Power Bar Foods, Boise, Idaho
Provided evaluation and design services on the following projects:
- Pretreatment Study – The study was prompted by rising sewer bills, which could have cost up to $800,000 in connection fees plus monthly user charges. This wastewater study was initiated to:
- Determine if the wastewater monitoring station was measuring accurately and pulling representative samples
- Determine if there were cross connections or inflow and infiltration (I&I) problems that had impacted the flows
- Develop processes to minimize flow and loading discharges
- Present pretreatment alternatives and cost comparisons.
This study provided the guidance required to manage their flows and loads more effectively and maintain their sewer lines to prevent unrepresentative sampling. Thus, user rates were reduced dramatically.
- pH Control System Design – Design modifications to an equalization system to include pH control. Modifications included improved mixing and pH measurement.