Eleven percent of the eggs produced in the U. S. are handled by egg breaking facilities to produce more than 800 million pounds of various egg products annually. Five egg breaking plants were sampled which covered a size ranging from small installations to one of the largest. The wastewater was highly contaminated, with total COD exceeding 6000 mg/l or greater. The product loss average was 12.5 percent of the weight of the processed product. Unit process losses were 0.034 kg BOD D sub 5 and 7.5 liters per kg of egg liquid produced. In-plant waste conservation methods were demonstrated to decrease BOD5 and wastewater volume losses by 50 and 24 percent, respectively. These reductions in product loss resulted in recovery of product with a value between $250 and $500 per day for a medium sized facility. Aerobic lagoons with 30 day HRT reduced the total COD from 5800 mg/l to 1000 mg/l. Of the four treatment systems tested, only a combination of an anaerobic lagoon followed in series with an aerated lagoon and a liquid solids separation step produced a dischargable effluent with soluble BOD D sub 5 less than 15 mg/l.

"June 1975." "Grant No. 802174; Program Element 1BB037; ROAP/TASK No. 21BAA/023." Prepared by Cornell University, College of Agricultue and Life Sciences, Ithaca, New York. Includes bibliographical references.