Solution for cheese-processing waste

Located an hour north of Brisbane, in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, Maleny Cheese is a family-owned business that first opened its doors in 2004. With its fine range of cheese products and on-site cafe, it is a popular spot with tourists and locals alike.

The presence of residential and commercial activities on the same site presents a unique challenge in terms of wastewater treatment, and one beyond that of the current aerated system which performed poorly during cheese-processing activities. The problem with the current set-up was so bad that the client had reverted to an arrangement with Sunshine Coast Regional Council to cart the cheese waste away. As well as being a costly exercise, this approach had an expiry date, meaning Maleny Cheese had to investigate other options.

“The solution we came up with needed to be one that is robust enough to deal with the high-strength waste, and flexible for expansion later, if required. The Orenco system was the only system we could find that meets with our design criteria and demand of a difficult site,” said Tom Johnstone, Alliance Water Solutions.

Key selection criteria for the project were:

Alliance Water Solutions and Innoflow designed a system that used existing infrastructure on site in conjunction with Orenco’s AdvanTex recirculating textile filter. Following storage and digestion in an existing 45,000 L tank, the AdvanTex system treats the water to a level suitable for re-use in the existing irrigation system.

The system will also be maintained by Alliance Water Solutions, and testing will be undertaken after a few months of operation to assess system performance.

“The Orenco products were very easy to work with, both where we were fitting equipment to existing tanks and for the new system,” said Ben Moore, Alliance Water Solutions.

Maleny Cheese presents an example of fit-for-purpose wastewater design, and demonstrates Innoflow’s and Orenco’s ability to design solutions on a case-by-case basis for any number of situations, including other process-waste applications such as dairy operations, wineries and light industry.