Ozone Treatment of Defrost Water for In-Plant Reuse

Many fruit and vegetable processing operations are examining technologies to reduce effluent volume and encourage water recovery and reuse. Implementing technologies and programs to promote in-plant reuse and recycling of discharge water is cost-effective and may improve processing efficiency. The efficacy of ozonation of defrost water has been investigated to determine the appropriate treatment level for in-plant reuse at a fruit processing plant in Clovis, California. Treatments of 0.5 ppm and 1.0 ppm of aqueous ozone achieved water quality acceptable for in-plant reuse, while an ozone treatment of 1.0 ppm was needed to significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the microbial load of flume wash effluent.