Biological Treatment of Dairy Wastewater: A Mini Review

Abstract

The dairy industry is one of the primary water consumers. It produces a large quantity of wastewater with a high concentration of solids, nutrients, fat, and organic compounds characterized by biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Therefore, the treatment of dairy wastewater attracts increasingly more attention. The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of biological treatment processes for dairy wastewater treatment, including one-stage and two-stage biological processes. The advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of aerobic and anaerobic technologies have been summarized and discussed in detail. Two-stage biological systems are also analyzed. In conclusion, the combined anaerobic and aerobic systems are determined as the most promising technologies for dairy effluent treatment in terms of the quality of the treated water.

Keywords: anaerobic treatment, aerobic process, two-stage biological system, dairy wastewater