VOCs at the Bashtansky Cheese Factory

In 2008, the “Dairy Alliance”—which brings together nine companies involved in the production and sale of cheese—acquired the Bashtanka Cheese Factory. The company’s biggest problems stem from its wastewater discharge. The company regularly pays fines, and the Ingul River is being polluted. The plant’s wastewater has a high concentration of fats and oils, and the company lacks sufficient space for settling ponds. Opure, Adverio, and UTC have proposed an aerobic-anaerobic treatment technology that produces biogas to the owners.

Technical solution: Flotation unit – UASB reactor – Settling tank – MBBR reactor. In addition to treating the effluent to meet regulatory standards, 100% of the energy consumption is covered by heat generated on-site from biogas production.

This is UTC’s first biogas production project at LOS. A byproduct of the treatment process is cake—an organic biofertilizer. LOS is a completely waste-free facility that operates using recycled wastewater. Result: 95–97% removal of organic pollutants and 80% removal of phosphorus compounds.

The design and construction took 18 months. The wastewater treatment plant has been in operation since 2009 at a capacity of 1,300 m³ per day. In 2011, the project won third place at the Green Awards Ukraine in the “Best Project in Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment” category.