Washington Dairy Gets New Wastewater Treatment System On-line

Royal Dairy and the Washington State Dairy Products Commission held a ribbon cutting ceremony recently, for their new BioFiltro wastewater treatment system.  Royal Dairy owner Austin Allred said they are accountable for every ounce of water used on their 7,000-milking cow operation.

“So we put all of that water through a centrifuge system which separates the solids from the liquids, and then after that centrifuge the water will then go through this bio treatment system.”

Allred said from there, the water settles through the bottom of the system, becoming irrigation water, which then can be used on nearby fields.  Allred added not only does this system remove contaminants, it can help address some of the biggest challenges the industry faces.

“Handling this green water, you have to have a lot of land to do it right, it’s expensive to truck it, probably one of the biggest challenges in the industry right now.  It’s very highly regulated.  So, by pulling out the nutrients and having irrigation water, it solves a big problem in the industry right now.”

Allred added if you include greenhouse gas reduction, that solves another issue that’s coming down the pipeline.  The BioFiltro system removes an average of 93% of total nitrogen, 97% of suspended solids, and 90% of phosphorus from wastewater.

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