Which Sectors in the Food Processing Industry Require Water Treatment Equipment?

2025-07-30

Exploring the Crucial Role of Water Treatment Equipment in the Entire Food Production Chain

In the context of the booming global food processing industry, water treatment equipment has become a core infrastructure to ensure product quality, compliant operations, and sustainable development. From raw material cleaning to finished product packaging, from wastewater treatment to resource recycling, water treatment technology runs through every link of food production. This article will delve into the water treatment needs of six core sectors in the food processing industry, revealing how water treatment equipment drives industry innovation.

1. Beverage Production: Water Quality Determines Product Quality

The beverage industry has "stringent" requirements for water quality. Take bottled water and fruit juice production as examples. The content of microorganisms, minerals, and organic matter in water directly affects product taste and shelf life. Reverse osmosis (RO) equipment, through nanoscale membrane separation technology, can remove 99.7% of dissolved ions and microorganisms, producing ultrapure water with a conductivity of ≤10μS/cm. For instance, a fruit juice enterprise adopting the "reverse osmosis + ultraviolet sterilization" combined process not only extended the product shelf life but also reduced water consumption by 30% through a wastewater reuse system.

In addition, carbonated drinks and beer brewing need precise control of calcium and magnesium ion concentrations in water (e.g., beer mashing water requires Ca²⁺ content of 50-100ppm) to ensure flavor stability. Water softening equipment, which removes hardness ions through ion exchange technology, has become a "standard configuration" in beverage production lines.

2. Dairy Processing: High-Purity Water Supports Aseptic Production

Dairy production has "pharmaceutical-grade" standards for water quality. From raw milk dilution to CIP cleaning systems, every drop of water needs to undergo multiple purifications. A dairy factory (adopted) a "double-stage reverse osmosis + EDI electrodeionization" process to produce ultrapure water with a resistivity of ≥18.2MΩ・cm, meeting the stringent requirements of pasteurization and aseptic filling.

Wastewater treatment is also crucial. Proteins and lactose in dairy wastewater are prone to causing high COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) pollution. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, combining biodegradation and membrane separation, can increase COD removal rate to over 90%, with effluent meeting the first-class A discharge standard.

3. Meat Processing: Emphasis on Both Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery

Meat processing wastewater is extremely difficult to treat due to containing (grease), blood stains, and organic matter. In the pretreatment stage, oil separation tanks and coagulation air flotation equipment are needed to remove suspended solids and grease. A meat processing plant (adopted) efficient oil separation technology, with a grease removal rate as high as 95%. In the biochemical treatment stage, the A²/O (anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic) process can simultaneously achieve nitrogen and phosphorus removal, making ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations comply with the "Water Pollutant Discharge Standard for Meat Processing Industry".

It is worth noting that wastewater resource utilization technology is emerging. An enterprise converts organic matter in wastewater into biogas through anaerobic digestion, which can replace 30% of production electricity annually, achieving a win-win situation for environmental and economic benefits.

4. Baking and Confectionery Manufacturing: Water Quality Affects Process Stability

The baking industry is highly sensitive to chloramine and hardness ions in water. For example, the activity of bread yeast will decrease due to excessive residual chlorine in water, leading to fermentation failure. Hobart's WS-55 series softeners, combining activated carbon filtration and ion exchange, can reduce chloramine content to below 0.1mg/L and control water hardness within 0.03mmol/L, ensuring dough ductility and baking color.

Confectionery production faces the challenge of high BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) wastewater. A confectionery factory (adopted) the "hydrolytic acidification + contact oxidation" process to degrade sugar and colloidal substances in wastewater into carbon dioxide and water. The treated water can be reused in the cooling system, with an annual water saving rate of 40%.

5. Fruit and Vegetable Processing: Dual Challenges of Cleaning and Sterilization

The core demand of fruit and vegetable processing is to remove surface pesticide residues and microbial contamination. High-pressure spray systems combined with ozone sterilization technology can increase the killing rate of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli to 99.99% without using chemical agents. Water softening equipment is also crucial in this link - hard water can cause scaling of cleaning equipment, reducing spray pressure, while softened water can extend equipment life by 50%.

In terms of wastewater treatment, pectin and cellulose in fruit and vegetable wastewater need to be decomposed through anaerobic fermentation technology. A tomato sauce factory 采用 (adopted) a UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) reactor, which not only reduced sludge production by 80% but also met 15% of the factory's electricity demand through biogas power generation.

6. Food Packaging: Full-Process Guarantee from Cleaning to Sterilization

The water treatment needs in the food packaging link are often overlooked but are crucial. Take PET bottle production as an example. Preform cleaning requires ultrapure water with a conductivity of ≤5μS/cm to avoid scale residues affecting transparency. 3M's precision filtration technology can control the particle size in water below 0.22μm, ensuring an aseptic filling environment.

In the process of bottle cap and label printing, softened water can prevent ink precipitation and improve printing clarity. A food packaging enterprise reduced the defective rate from 5% to 1.2% by installing water softening equipment, saving more than one million dollars annually.

7. Industry Trends: Innovation Driven by Intelligence and Sustainability

With stricter environmental regulations (such as the EU's "Food Hygiene Regulation" and China's "Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard"), water treatment equipment is developing towards intelligence and high efficiency. For example, IoT (Internet of Things) sensors monitor water quality parameters in real-time, and AI algorithms automatically optimize the cleaning cycle of reverse osmosis membranes, reducing equipment energy consumption by 18%. In addition, zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology, through high-pressure reverse osmosis and crystallization evaporation, increases wastewater recovery rate to over 95%, becoming a "standard configuration" in food parks.

From market data, the global food and beverage water treatment equipment market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9%, reaching 78.35 billion US dollars by 2032. This trend confirms the transformation of water treatment technology from a "cost item" to a "strategic asset".

Conclusion: Water Treatment Equipment - The Invisible Guardian of the Food Industry

From farm to table, water treatment equipment silently guards every link of food production. Whether it is ultrapure water preparation in the beverage industry or wastewater resource utilization in meat processing, water treatment technology is meeting industry challenges with innovative attitudes. As sustainable development becomes a global consensus, efficient and intelligent water treatment solutions will become the key for food enterprises to enhance competitiveness.

About LJF Products

As a leading global supplier of water treatment equipment, LJF focuses on providing customized solutions for the food processing industry. Our product line covers core categories such as reverse osmosis equipment, wastewater treatment systems, and water softening devices. All equipment is made of 316 stainless steel, complying with FDA food contact standards. For detailed parameters of certain equipment or to obtain industry white papers, please visit our official website or contact technical consultants.