7/28/2019 Beckart Case Study Patagonia

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Case Histories: Fish Processing

Chile Mandates WastewaterTreatment for SeafoodProcessors(Reprinted from FISH FARMING INTERNATIONAL magazine)

Since 1992, Chilean regulators have mandated that all newseafood processors install a wastewater treatment system as acondition to operate a seafood processing facility. In the city ofPuerto Montt alone, more than fifteen fish processors haveinstalled such systems and the remaining plants have until 2005to install theirs, or risk having their permit to operate revoked.The leading supplier of these wastewater treatment systems isBeckart Environmental, Inc., a company based in the UnitedStates. Beckart has localized its support with a joint venture inSouth America, Beckart Tecnologia Ambiental. The companyprovides cost-effective, turnkey systems, technical support, andcan even manage the entire operation of the system. In the firm'sexperience with fish processing, chemical costs are reported tobe approximately $5.00 USD per ton of salmon processed (7-8tons of water). One ton of salmon is worth approximately $5,000USD, so treatment cost is negligible.

Beckart has expanded into the European market as well, withsupport headquarters in the United Kingdom. UK staff have beenclosely monitoring developments in Europe, and have beenfocusing on the particular needs of area processors as the newstandards unfold. The typical plant in Chile is raising its fish inpens set along Pacific Ocean shallows, often adjacent to itsprocessing plant. There is typically no end-of-pipe treatment(municipality) and Chilean environmentalists recognized that theonly viable means of protecting their waterways was to strictlyenforce discharge standards.

The standards are implemented as follows:

1. In protected ocean areas:* FOG: 20 mg/l* BOD: 60 mg/l* TKN: 50 mg/l* TSS: 100 mg/l

2. In non-protected ocean areas -* FOG: 100 mg/l* TSS: 300 mg/l

While initially met with resistance, these standards have beenaccepted by industry and treatment prior to discharge is nowthe norm. As one seafood plant owner states, "The government

is simply protecting us from ourselves. We make our living fromthe sea and protecting it will only assure the quality of our fish."

When the regulations first went into effect in Chile, seafoodprocessors voiced their opinions loudly. They were sure theywould all be forced out of business, and in fact, some have.However, never doubt the ingenuity of business people and theirability to not only survive, but also thrive. In Puerto Monte, thelarger fisheries discovered they could operate a wastewatertreatment system and still make a fair profit. The smaller oneslearned that they could merge with other fisheries and theeconomies of scale have paid for the treatment systems many

times over. The trend that has developed in Chile is likely tospread around the world. Chilean seafood processors nowmake two products: quality fish and clean water.

At Patagonia Salmon Farms in Puerto Montt, Chile,workers remove the dry filter cake from a Beckart

Environmental Hy-Pack Filter Press at the end stageof the wastewater treatment process.