Smithfield Foods in Sioux Center, Iowa, completed a $2.4 million upgrade to their wastewater treatment plant that treats industrial discharge from manufacturing bacon before sending the treated discharge to the Sioux Center Wastewater Treatment Plant. Construction began last fall with the main portion of the upgrades completed this summer, as reported by Sioux Center News.
The plant now has a 140,000 gal capacity for its equalization (EQ) basins and a new 120,000 gal moving bed biological reactor (MBBR) tank, resulting in 23.5 hours of storage capacity within its EQ basins and 36 hours in its MBBR basin. Onsite, the industrial wastewater treatment includes sludge removal and an aeration system before being sent on to the city wastewater treatment plant.
Overall, Smithfield Foods finds the upgrades to be cost-effective in the long-term by reducing chemical use and outside treatment costs.
“By lessening what we discharge and treating it appropriately beforehand, we lessen the chemicals and cost that the city has to use to treat our water, which also helps moderate costs on the taxpayer’s end,” Plant Manager Nathan Frens said. “It’s the responsible thing to do for the community that hosts us.”