Dairy Waste Reduction
Tips
Minnesota Technical Assistance
Program (MnTAP)
Fixing Leaks
- At Marigold Foods in Minneapolis, six leaky pipe connections were
clampled down. In addition to lowering their wastewater
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) loading, Marigold saves about 10
gallons of milk an hour.
- Pride of Main Street Dairy in Sauk Centre, decided to remove an
old, leaking half-pint filling machine. The demand of half pints was down, so
the machine was simply removed.
- At Hastings Co-op Creamery Association in Hastings, maintenance personnel
fix small leaks before they became larger ones. Valves are replaced
before they wear out, preventing water and byproduct losses.
Automation
- At Hastings Co-op Creamery, automatic shutoff hoses were installed
in the truck wash area. The new hoses reduce wastewater because they do not
spray continuously during washing. They are more convenient to use because the
operator can immediately control water flow.
- Marigold Foods installed mixing stations to eliminate the risk of
employee exposure to live steam. Now steam is automatically mixed with cold
water before reaching hoses. Automatic shutoff valves were installed on
these hoses, where previously steam would have destroyed them.
Process Improvements
- In order to reduce product loss when unloading cream from tanker trucks,
Pride of Main Street Dairy uses air to flush excess cream through the
three inch hose into a storage silo. Previously, product left in the hose
would empty down the drain.
- Installing a second pasteurizer for processing only white milk,
saves Schroeder Milk Company in St. Paul $180,000 worth of
product a year and 8,600 gallons of water each day. Previously, only
one pasteurizer was used to process both white and chocolate milk. The
addition of a second pasteurizer eliminated waste generated from cleaning the
original pasteurizer before white to chocolate milk changeovers.
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Conservation Strategies*
- Always treat water as a raw material with a real cost.
- Make water conservation a management priority.
- Set water conservation goals for your plant.
- Install water meters and monitor water use.
- Improve maintenance to prevent product leaks form valves, piping,
and equipment.
- Minimize spills of ingredients and of raw and finished product on
the floor; always clean up the spills before washing.
- Use high-pressure, low volume cleaning systems.
- Use automatic shutoff nozzles on all water hoses.
- Don't let people use water hoses as brooms.
- Train Employees how to use water efficiently.
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MnTAP is funded by a grant from the Minnesota Office of
Environmental Assistance to the University of Minnesota, School of Public
Health.
* Printed with permission of Dr. R. Eugene Carawan, PhD, Gannet
Fleming, 5511 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27606