Waste Water Management in Dairy Industry: Pollution Abatement and Preventive Attitudes

Increase in demand for milk and their products many dairies of different sizes have come up in different places. The dairy industry involves processing raw milk into products such as consumer milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, condensed milk, dried milk (milk powder), and ice cream, using processes such as chilling, pasteurization, and homogenization. The typical by-products of milk are buttermilk, whey, and their derivatives. The effluents are generated from milk processing through milk spillage, drippings, washing of cans, tankers bottles, utensil, and equipment’s and floors. The dairy industry generate on an average 2.53.0 litres of wastewater per litre of milk processed. Generally this wastewater contains large quantities of fat, casein, lactose, and inorganic salts, besides detergents, sanitizers etc. used for washing. These all contribute largely towards their high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and oil and grease much higher than the permissible limits. Among the biological treatments trickling filter and activated sludge process involve more economy high power requirement, more chemical consumption and large area requirement. Use of a dairy wastewater for irrigation after primary treatment in an aerated lagoon may also be good for the disposal of dairy wastes.