Water treatment processes 



Processes utilizing water 



Where used by the food canning industry, sur- 

 face waters will require treatment before use as 

 process waters. Usually, this treatment involves 

 coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfec- 

 tion. More extensive treatment may be required 

 for those waters incorporated in the product. 



Container cooling waters are routinely treated 

 by heavy chlorination to render them free of sig- 

 nificant types of bacteria. Waters used for washing 

 and transporting raw foods are generally chlori- 

 nated particularly if all or a portion of the water is 

 recirculated. In some cases, waters in which vege- 

 tables are blanched, may require treatment to 

 reduce hardness. 



bottled and canned 

 soft drinks (SIC 2086) 



Description of industry 



While essentially local in nature, the soft drink 

 industry is national in character because it operates 

 on a franchise system. A soft drink franchise grants 

 the right to produce and distribute a specific 

 beverage in a certain area. 



There has been a marked reduction in the num- 

 ber of producing plants — from 5,469 in 1954 with 

 a production of 1,176,674,000 cases to 3,619 in 

 1965 with a production of 2,104,282,000 cases.^ 



It is obvious that numerous small plants have 

 been discontinued as producing units. This trend is 

 likely to continue in future years. 



^ A case is defined as 24 bottles containing 8 ounces 

 of beverage. In the above figures, bottles larger or smaller 

 than 8 ounces have been converted to 8-ounce equiva- 

 lents. Data obtained from National Soft Drink Associa- 

 tion, 1128 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 



In the production of soft drinks, water is used 

 not only in the finished product itself but also for 

 the following purposes : 



— Washing containers. 



— Cleaning production equipment. 



— Cooling refrigeration and air compressors. 



— Plant clean up. 



— Truck washing. 



— Sanitary purposes (restrooms and showers) . 



— Lawn watering. 



— Low-pressure heating boilers. 



— Air conditioning. 



Water quantity utilized by each process is esti- 

 mated as: 



Intake — approximately 25 bgy. 

 Recycle — 6 bgy. 

 Consumption — 3 bgy. 

 Discharge — 22 bgy. 



A comprehensive survey of the quantity of water 

 intake and reuse has not been made. The 1963 

 census of manufacturers (7) lists the total water 

 intake of bottled and canned soft drinks as 6 bil- 

 lion gallons. However, this quantity is the amount 

 used by only 1 14 of the largest plants whose water 

 intake was 20 or more million gallons per year. 

 This is less than 3 percent of the total number of 

 plants. The 1963 census does not give the total 

 quantity of beverage produced by the 114 plants, 

 so the water usage data cannot be extrapolated to 

 give an estimate of the total industry usage. 



The figure of 25 billion gallons intake is based 

 upon production of 2.1 billion cases per year and 

 an average of 12 gallons of water used per case. 

 The figure of 12 gallons per case came from the 

 limited data now available. 



The 1963 census of manufacturers (7) lists the 

 gross water usage, including recycle, as 8 billion 

 gallons and total water intake as 6 billion gallons. 

 There is no similar data for the entire industry. 

 However, the reuse of water within the industry has 

 for some years increased and is still increasing as 

 the older and smaller plants are replaced by new 

 and larger plants which use recirculating rather 

 than once through cooling water equipment, mod- 

 ern bottle washers which use less water per case 

 washed than does older equipment, and other 

 water reuse devices. 



The consumption figure of 3 billion gallons is 

 based upon the water content of the total quantity 

 of beverage produced in 1965. 



The discharge figure of 22 billion gallons is the 

 difference between the estimated 25 billion gallons 

 of intake and the 3 billion gallons of product 

 water. 



211 



