Sources and characteristics of beer industry wastewater

　　The following is an introduction to the sources and characteristics of beer industry wastewater:

　　1. Source of wastewater

　　The main sources of brewery wastewater are: malt washing water, malt soaking water, germination cooling spray water, malt trough water, washing water, and coagulant washing water in the malt production process; saccharification and filtration washing water in the saccharification process; fermentation tank washing and filtration washing water in the fermentation process; bottle washing, sterilization and bottle breaking beer wastewater in the filling process; cooling water and finished product workshop washing water, as well as domestic sewage from office buildings, canteens, dormitories and bathrooms.

　　Generally speaking, the wastewater discharged from the beer production process consists of two parts. One is high-concentration organic wastewater, which mainly comes from malt soaking, saccharification and fermentation processes, and the wastewater volume accounts for 25% to 35% of the total; the other is low-concentration organic wastewater, which is the malt soaking water, rinsing water and washing water in the malt making workshop and filling workshop, and the wastewater volume accounts for 65% to 75% of the total.

　　2. Characteristics of wastewater

　　The main characteristics of beer production wastewater are: non-toxic, harmful, medium-concentration organic wastewater, good biodegradability, many discharge points, and mostly intermittent discharge, so the water quality fluctuates greatly.

　　The beer production process consumes a lot of water, especially in the brewing and filling processes. Due to the large amount of fresh water used, a large amount of wastewater is generated accordingly. Due to the large number of beer production processes, the water consumption and water quality per ton of beer in the production process of different breweries vary greatly. The water consumption of breweries includes water for final products, process water (including water treatment, acid and alkali dilution, material transportation, etc.), cleaning water (including CIP cleaning, packaging cleaning, etc.), boiler and cooling water, etc.