SUMMARY

King & Prince Seafood, a  seafood processor located in Brunswick, Georgia formed a partnership with the University of Georgia's Engineering Outreach Team to identify and reduce high strength waste stream loads that had led to large increases in monthly fees. Through strong management support for the program's in-plant activities, the King & Prince staff and UGA reduced the overall waste stream load. They also combined efforts to select an effective wastewater pretreatment system that now allows the palnt to control their discharge to the city of Brunswick.

BACKGROUND

Established in 1961, King & Price Seafood has been a cornerstone of the Brunswick/Glynn County costal commercial base for almost 40 years. The facility employs over 500 Georgians. The plant specializes in the further processing of shrimp and other seafood for the whole sale retail market. In recent years King & Price Seafood had begun to see sharp increases in their wastewater fees, paid to the City of Brunswick, for the treatment of their process waste stream. The situation became critical when the fees had increased to almost five times the levels seen in previous years. These escalating fees prompted King & Price Seafood to request assistance from the University of Georgia's Engineering Outreach Team.

IN-PLANT ASSESSMENTS, SYSTEM MODIFICATION & RESULTS

In-Plant Assessments

A team from UGA's Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department's Outreach Team began a two-day assessment of the King & Price Seafood plant placing special emphasis on the process/production lines and subsequent wastewater streams. In addition, the team reviewed sewer bill records, assessed the plant's industrial wastewater pretreatment system and evaluated the company's solid waste handing practices.

Also, the Outreach Team from Athens contacted and formed a partnership with the University's Marine Extension Service in Brunswick to utilize their vast knowledge of the seafood processing industry. The Marine Extension Service offered the use of their laboratory facilities as well as explored the opportunities for by-product recovery within the King & Prince Seafood plant.

Back in Athens, the UGA team Complied the results of the assessment into  a clearly defined problem -"increased wastewater effluent FLOWS, CONCENTRATIONS, & LOADINGS at King & Price Seafood has led to substantial increases in wastewater treatment costs billed by the City of Brunswick". The team then developed a plan for solving the problem that included establishing a series of clear goals, designing step-by-step objectives, and making specific recommendations to meet each objective.

Management Education

The Engineering Outreach Team's plan was complied into a presentation and work booklet that was given to the King & Prince Seafood management team. The team was comprised of the plant manager, plant engineering, production shift manager, sanitation director, and quality assurance manager.

The presentation addressed all aspects of the King & Prince operation, from providing the management team with information that gave them a full understanding of exactly how King & Prince is billed for their wastewater treatment, to how best to measure and sample the wastewater effluent form the plant.

Fees Impacted

Based on the efforts of management and the Engineering Outreach Team, the City of Brunswick agreed to reduce King & Prince's sewer fees to normal levels until project work at the plant was completed by UGA. The project plan included elements of water conservation and waste minimization that resulted in both a reduction in the flow and a reduction in the loading of the plant's wastewater effluent stream.

The Engineering Outreach Team also assisted King & Prince with the evaluation and selection of an on-site wastewater pretreatment system that provided King & Prince with the ability to manage their discharge to the City of Brunswick, thus reducing fees even further.