Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century

Saving Water in the Process(ing)

Nine billion gallons of water.

Based on national averages, that’s how much Alabama’s poultry processing companies are estimated to use every year as they go about the business of processing broilers into products for human consumption.

Getting more accurate water-use data from these processors and garnering information that can be used to help them find ways to reduce water use and wastewater discharge are goals of a new AAES-funded study by AU poultry scientists Pat Curtis and Sarge Bilgili.

The scientists first will send the state’s 19 poultry processing plants detailed written water-use surveys. Then, they will conduct nine inplant audits in which they will identify strategies the plants could use to better conserve water and reduce wastewater discharge without sacrificing quality or safety. Those will be the basis for the creation of recommendations for all poultry processing plants.

The study should result in significant conservation of a valuable natural resource, less pollution and cost savings for processors.

The volume of water that processors nationwide use rose sharply in 1998 when new federal food safety regulations mandated that the companies increase the number of washers in their plants in order to ensure that poultry carcasses are clean.