SEBWA Releases 2009 Technical Manual on HACCP

Austin, TX – The Southeastern Bottled Water Association (SEBWA) announced the publication of the Association’s 2009 Technical Manual covering the HACCP Plan: A Template for Factories.

The 2009 SEBWA Technical Manual was authored by Cynthia Herold, Corporate Hygiene Manager, Nestle Waters N.A. Herold is also Technical Director for the Mid-American Bottled Water Association (MABWA).

“We are very pleased to be able to provide this important information to our members,” said Efrem Pesyna, SEBWA’s Technical Director. “Over the past 10+ years SEBWA has published and provided its members with an annual technical manual, and 2009 is no exception,” he said.

The HACCP manual includes a (1) Template for Factories, (2) HACCP plan example, and 3) Hazard Control Chart.

All dues-paid SEBWA members will receive a copy of the 2009 SEBWA Technical Manual on CD as a benefit of membership. Members may also purchase back issues of SEBWA Technical Manuals by going online to www.sebwa.org and clicking on  SEBWA Publications. These back issues may be purchased by members only at a price of $50 each plus postage.

 

SEBWA Technical Committee Releases 2008 Technical Manual

Basics of Cleaning and Disinfection and Foaming / COP for Bottled Water Equipment at Your Factory and Chemical Hygiene Plan

Efrem Pesyna, SEBWA Technical Director, announced today the publication of the organization’s 2008 Technical Manual covering: 1) Basics of Cleaning and Disinfection and Foaming / COP for Bottled Water Equipment at Your Factory; and 2) Chemical Hygiene Plan. “The 2008 SEBWA Technical Manual was authored by Cynthia Herold, Corporate Hygiene Manager, Nestle Waters N.A. Cynthia is also Technical Director for the Mid America Bottled Water Association,” announced Pesyna. “We are very pleased to be able to provide this important information to our members,” and, “over the years SEBWA has provided a wealth of technical information to its members and our 2008 release is no exception,” said Pesyna.

The “Basics of Cleaning and Disinfection and Foaming / COP for Bottled Water Equipment at Your Factory addresses “Why we clean,” outlining the many important reasons including:

1. Cleaning removes soils such as dirt, dust and grease.
2. Cleaning increases the quality of your product by extending shelf life.
3. Cleaning is a regulatory requirement.
4. Cleaning keeps your work environment safe.
5. Cleaning increases your profits and thus job security.
6. Cleaning increases the life of the equipment.
7. Cleaning prevents off odors and off flavors.
8. Cleaning creates a good work environment and increased pride.

The “Chemical Hygiene Plan” includes policies, procedures and responsibilities designed to develop employees’ awareness of potentially hazardous chemicals in the workplace, and to train employees in appropriate safe working practices.

All dues-paid SEBWA members will receive a copy on CD of the 2008 SEBWA Technical Manual as a benefit to membership. Members may purchase additional copies of the newly released technical manual, as well as past issues, from SEBWA for a cost of $50 plus postage.

For more information or to purchase any of these technical manuals, contact the SEBWA office at 512.894.4106.

Ozone Wastewater Treatment Portable Wastewater Treatment Systems Support
Canada’s Natural Industries by Ben Couch

The weight of our civilization has become so great, it now ranks as a global force and a significant wild card in the human future along with the Ice Ages and other vicissitudes of a volatile and changeable planetary system.” —Dianne Dumanoski, “Rethinking Environmentalism,” Dec. 13, 1998.

Canada, the world’s second largest country after Russia, has a wealth of natural resources ranging from iron and timber to petroleum and natural gas. With 90% of its population concentrated within 160 km of the U.S. border, harvesting Canada’s abundant resources throughout the country will involve sufficient infrastructure to preserve one’s entrepreneurial investment.

Not surprisingly, Canada’s government is increasingly paying attention to the country’s delicate balance of economic growth and environmental preservation. It doesn’t take a viewing of the recent documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” to understand the global dynamics involved, but it couldn’t hurt. Some of the people in the nexus of economy and ecology are the ones at the beginning of the pipeline for those resources—the intrepid drillers, miners and loggers who supply North America’s industry with raw materials. Of growing concern is the environmental impact of retrieving those materials. What matters is not only the extraction process but also the human infrastructure and waste processing. Wastewater treatment systems are a necessary part of any resource extraction project.

Ozone—A Wastewater Solution

One of the key challenges of the wastewater industry in North America is the ability to transport and run treatment equipment in remote and inhospitable locations. Due to the transient nature of many wastewater cleanups, a treatment system must be self-contained and mobile enough to be transported to the next site after an extraction is complete.

As they say, it’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. And the dirtier the job, the stronger the oxidant and sanitizer required. The amount of fecal bacteria, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon and total suspended solids in wastewater can be truly daunting, especially for a remote application; however, ozone has been shown to significantly decrease these parameters with proper dosing.

Ozone, a dynamic allotrope of oxygen, has been used for more than 100 years as a critical application for water disinfection and sanitization. Ozone’s reactivity makes it an excellent tool against viruses and organic material. Widely used in the bottled and municipal water industries, ozone’s oxidative power and benign byproducts (decompose to oxygen) make it an integral solution for water treatment in modern global industry.

One company utilizing the powerful oxidation and sanitizing chemistry of ozone in wastewater is Seair Diffusion Systems, Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta. Seair specializes in the transfer and diffusion of gases into liquid for a variety of industries, including aquaculture, oil and gas, and agriculture, along with waste/water treatment systems. Seair is currently expanding its portable ozone wastewater treatment fleet for the fall drilling season, when crews all around North America will set up camp extracting ores and oil. Just as those drilling operations supply the growth of industry, Seair’s ozone wastewater treatment supports the human and infrastructure footprint of their camps. Because of ozone disinfection, these camps run as selfcontained cities complete with energy, living quarters, kitchen utilities and waste disposal. Seair is enjoying an industrial and economic boom in western Canada and is serving a wide range of industries. “We’ve been fortunate to live in a region that is filled with growth and possibility,” said Chris Kinasewich, chief manufacturing officer and director of Seair Diffusion Systems.

System Setup

Each portable wastewater treatment system includes two G21 ozone generators from Pacific Ozone Technology fueled by AirSep oxygen concentrators, a series of tanks, a Seair automated control panel and three Seair diffusion systems capable of treating 3,000 gal of raw sewage per day, meeting federal surface discharge regulations. The setup, in a 40-ft container, is mounted on transport skids and fueled by the camp’s diesel generator. With contracts running from around 100 days to as long as three years, it is important to have equipment that stands alone and can be moved easily. Ozone generators require minimal maintenance and no piping other than oxygen and water supply. Because ozone is generated on site and has oxygen as a main output of sanitization, it is an ideal gas for this remote, environmentally sensitive application. Already, Seair’s customers are seeing the value of this environmentally safe wastewater treatment over harsher, and often less effective, alternatives. “The awareness is starting to increase, and we’re starting to see a very favorable response,” Kinasewich said. Seair’s ozone treatment systems pump the wastewater through a three-stage treatment process. With a primary ozonation step, aerobic treatment and a final ozone application, the system is ultimately able to produce clean water safe for discharge back into the ecosystem.

Gas Optimization through Mass Transfer

Seair offers a proprietary diffusion system to its customers, who rely on oxygen, ozone and water for their own processes and for effluent treatment. Part of the company’s advantage is that it integrates top-of-the-line components into its engineered solutions. Drawing high-purity oxygen from AirSep concentrators and featuring air-cooled corona discharge ozone generators from Pacific Ozone Technology, Seair uses Mazzei’s venturi injectors to ensure the best-quality gas application into its patented diffusion chambers. This simple yet effective technique allows ozone to be applied quickly and consistently in a variety of applications, especially ones in which standard diffusion may not suffice or even be feasible. The creation and injection of 5-micron bubbles in the water flow creates this optimum stable gas concentration for every customer’s application. Clearly, a tool as dynamic and powerful as ozone will have impressive results when applied correctly. Sound stoichiometry and process engineering are required for successful ozone treatment, but as Seair and its customers are showing, the impact can be profound. Dirty jobs need clean solutions, and Seair’s ozone wastewater treatment systems make simple work of creating clean water—a small victory in the big picture, but one that makes a world of difference for industrial customers. “There’s no real comparison. It’s peace of mind for the customers,” Kinasewich said of the ozone treatment systems’ impact. “Our technology has been opening up a lot of doors. We’ve optimized our customers’ existing products, lowered their annual operating costs and given them an environmentally conscious solution.” In the end, while industrial projects are always going to have environmental consequences, using ozone for wastewater treatment is a business solution that increases operational flexibility and mitigates ecological impact. Ozone is not just “green business.” It’s good business. As environmental technology develops from industrial innovation and consumer awareness is raised, progressive business practices gain ground and alter the global market.

This article has been reprinted with permission of Water Quality Products, Volume 11 Number 10.Ben Couch is marketing administrator for Pacific Ozone Technology. He can be reached at 707.747.9600, ext. 29, or by e-mail at benc@pacificozone.com. Note: The International Ozone Association O3Zone monthly column is designed to educate WQP readers about the growing use of ozone technology in the water treatment industry.

Hurricane Seasons and their effects on Bottled Water

This past year has seen several major hurricanes impacted the South Eastern U.S. They caused millions of dollars in damage and left people without power for several days. Hurricanes directly impact the bottled water industry both positively and negatively. During a hurricane, sales could increase, as this is a resource that everyone stocks up on to ride out the storm. However, there are many disadvantages that bottled water facilities have to deal with during and after hurricanes.

The spring source could be directly affected from a hurricane. As water levels rise in near by rivers and streams, the water table could be affected. Depending on the spring depth, rising water levels could cause backpressure in a spring, which could change the characteristics of the spring water. Possible results of hurricane conditions include increased microbiological loads, increased turbidity levels, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and pH fluctuations. As a nearby water source overflows into the spring caverns, intrusion of ground water or other water sources could contaminate the spring. As a result, the bacteria levels will change according to the intrusive water. Turbidity will increase as the spring is disturbed by irregular flows. The TDS and pH will also rise or decrease based on the water characteristics that are blending with the spring.

It is recommended to monitor these characteristics more frequently for several days after a storm to ensure everything is normal in the spring. It could take hours or days to see storm affects, depending on the severity of the intrusion. Accurate documentation of the events will help trouble shoot storm related issues in the future.

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Courtesy of Fred Schneider, (NWNA) SEBWA Technical Director

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QUATS

Quaternary ammonium compounds or 'quats' have been used as sanitizing agents in the food processing industry for many years. The first quats were synthesized in the mid 1930's. Since then, quats have been modified and refined to improve performance and cost effectiveness. The modifications are classified into groups known as 'generations'. Presently, there are seven generations of quats, five of which are commonly used in the sanitizers currently on the market today.

'5th generation Quat' is a term that has been heard quite frequently in the food processing industry over the past several months. A 5th generation quat is a blend of 4th generation Dialkyl quat and a 1st generation Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride (ADBAC) quat in a 60/40 ratio. This synergistic blend produces superior microbiological results as compared to the individual components when tested via the AOAC Use Dilution Test. In other words, the components work better together than they would separately. The 5th generation quat also enjoy the benefit of greater hard water tolerance than some of the earlier generations.

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Cleaners & Sanitizers - know your chemicals

If Nitric Acid is in a chemical used during your cleaning or sanitizing, look into the affects it may have on the process. Nitric Acid in acid cleaners works very well to remove scale from piping. However, the % of nitric acid combined with temperature during cleaning could degrade parts of the process. Gaskets, valve seats, o-rings, or any other part of the process made of EPDM material could be at risk. Nitric acid and other harsh chemicals have been known to degrade / melt EPDM material over time. If EPDM materials are used, regular inspections are recommended. Here is a chart of chemical compatibility referencing chemicals, temperatures, and materials that are compatible with your application.

Seat Materials

Chemical Name	Hypalon	Viton	EPDM	Teflon
Ammonium Chloride 50%, 180F	E	I	E	E
Ethyl Acetate	U	U	F	E
Nitric Acid10%, 70F	E	E	I	E
Nitric Acid 30%, 70F	E	I	E	E
Nitric Acid 60%, 175F	F	E	I	E
Phosphoric Acid 10%, 70F	E	E	I	E
Phosphoric Acid 25%, 70F	E	E	I	E
Phosphoric Acid 75%, 70F	E	E	I	E
Sodium Hypochlorite 5%, 60F	E	E	I	E
Sulphuric Acid 0-7%, 70F	E	E	U	E
Sulphuric Acid 7-40%, 70F	E	E	U	E
Sulphuric Acid 40-75%, 70F	G	G	U	E
Sulphuric Acid 75-95%	U	G	U	E
Water 185F	I	I	E	E
Water 225F	U	U	G	E

E – Excellent G – Good F – Fair U – Unsatisfactory I – Insufficient Data