A potential pollution problem concerning the final effluent from a cheese-making plant in Cheshire, UK, has been averted by the installation of a filtration system using Cross “zero gravity” stainless steel coils. Filtration is performed by a total of eight “zero gravity” coils, each designed for a maintenance-free operating life of at least five years. The Glanbia Foods Creamery at Malpas produces “crumbly” cheeses, including Caerphilly and Lancashire. The plant has a weekly cheese output of up to 100 tons, the production of which demands the daily use of up to 200 tons of water. The used water, containing a high residual solids loading from the production process, is passed through the creamery’s effluent plant for primary settlement and secondary activated sludge treatment before flowing into a tributary of the River Dee in an environmentally clean condition. The Cross filtration package uses patented “zero gravity” stainless-steel coils that backwash automatically by means of pressure differential, with a two-hour time lapse back-up. At times of peak loading final effluent is diverted into the Cross package and undergoes filtration in two stages, 400um followed by 50um.
