Do you like to fish? Hunt? Swim? Drink pure, clean water? The wastewater from your plant, if not properly treated, can spoil these simple pleasures of life. By making some small changes in the way you do your job, however, you can help reduce your plant's waste outputs to a man-ageable level.

In other words, you can help get your BOD in shape. No, we're not talking about joining a health club. We're talking about a different kind of BOD. These three letters stand for biochemical oxygen demand. It’s a measure of the potential pollutants in your plant's wastewater. By helping to reduce BOD, you can help ensure a cleaner environment and help your plant be a responsible local citizen.

Let's look at how waste gets into our water and the importance of keeping it out.

During production and cleanup in your plant, materials such as batter, breading, blood, and bits of meat fall from the machines and containers onto the floor. When you wash these materials down the drain, some of them find their way into the environment and become pollutants. BOD is simply a way of measuring the amount of these pollutants that get into the sewers.

How Dry Cleanup Can Help

You know it's important to keep the plant clean and sanitary in order to produce the finest and safest food products. Cleaning does require a certain amount of washing. But much of the cleanup can be done before you start to use water.

The basic idea of dry cleanup is simple: Keep waste materials off the floor and out of the drains. Using the dry cleanup methods recommended in this booklet is the most practical and effective way to reduce BOD.

Dry cleanup is mostly common sense. If there is waste material on the floor or in a machine, pick it up, brush it into a bucket, vacuum it out, or remove it in some other way before turning the hose on the floor and machines.

Many plants have found uses for the batter, breading, and other materials that they used to wash down the drain. Animal food producers can use this waste as a rich source of carbohydrates and proteins for the feed they make. So what you pick up instead of washing away can be sold to help reduce the costs of wastewater processing at your plant.

What You Can Do

Getting your plant's BOD back in shape isn't too difficult, but - like taking care of your own body - it's a lot easier to prevent problems than to correct them. Habits are hard to break, and if your work habits contribute to BOD, changing over to a new way of doing things will take some thought and effort.

Your daily care and attention are vital to reducing pollution. Think about your daily practices, watching for excess waste production. Just as you watch what you eat if you're trying to reduce your own weight bit by bit, look for the many small steps that you can take to reduce your plant's BOD. Follow the suggested dry cleanup practices just as you would a diet to keep your plant's BOD weight down. Remember that the material that goes down the drain is not all waste - much of it can be recovered and used.

When the elevator combo is filled -- especially if it's overfilled -- bits of the product will fall over the sides and onto the floor. Periodically sweep the area around the combo and put the waste into a barrel.

Bolts have a nasty habit of working loose. Check them at the beginning and end of each shift, tightening them if necessary. If they are loose, pieces of the product will work their way between the plates and fall onto the floor. Make sure that the area around plungers is clean and free of waste.

Report any leakage or excess water use in the machinery and plunger area to your supervisor or maintenance person immediately.

Make sure that all trays and tubs are emptied regularly. Don't let them fill to overflowing before they are emptied and replaced. Also, you're the one who sees them every day. Report any worn-out, battered, or damaged equipment to your supervisor.

The inedible trays need to be emptied periodically, not allowed to overflow onto the floor. When they're close to full, make sure that they are emptied into designated barrels; do it yourself if the person responsible isn't around.

Make sure that your aim is true when putting the rework in the trays. Don't let this material fall onto the floor. If it does, pick it up and put it in the trays. Switch off with the other inspector so that you can take a minute to pick up around you, have the trays emptied, and report full trays and tubs.

Keep food materials off the floor. Make sure that your work area is clean and well maintained. Be sure that you have proper disposal tubs, trays, and barrels as well as access to brooms, dustpans, and squeegees. Keep your area clean while working and leave it clean when you go off shift.

Watch the drain -- the point at which waste becomes BOD. Don't let the waste from your area get near the drain. Also, check the drain to make sure that it is clear, that the screen is properly in place, and that nothing is clogging it.

Make sure that the water nozzles are set properly and spraying where they're supposed to. Check the tubs and trays beneath this area to make sure that they are catching the waste and water coming out. If anything about your area doesn't look right, have it fixed

The pumps that force the mixture of water and temperature often leak. Watch for pump leakage. If it occurs, check to see if all the nuts are tight. If they are and you don't know how to stop the leak, tell the line supervisor.

If you see a leak, put a tray beneath it to catch the drips. This will keep any of the mixture from going onto the floor and into the drain. When the tray fills, empty it into a barrel, and continue to empty it regularly until the leak has been fixed.

When mixing the flour, water, and batter, be careful not to overfill the containers. The swirling action may spill some of the contents onto the floor. Make sure that the lid is on. Control the amount of water and flour mixed at one time to prevent overflow.

Make sure that all hoses are connected properly. If a leak occurs, fix it. If you can't fix it, tell your supervisor about it. Put a tray beneath the leak until it has been repaired. Again, make sure that the tray doesn't overflow.

Make sure that your work area is free of inedible meat. Collect any that is on the floor or machine using a broom, brush, bucket, dustpan, or squeegee. Dispose of it properly in the tubs provided. Check the floor again before hosing it down and collect any solid or liquid waste that you can so that it doesn't go down the drain.

Make sure that your work area is clean and properly maintained. Watch for signs of worn-out equipment (such as machinery, barrels, and trays) and look for potential problems that can be corrected by preventive maintenance. Leave the area clean when you go off shift.

Be a BOD buster for your work area. Keep an eye out for accumulations of waste or excess water use, and point them out to your supervisor. Offer your suggestions for ways to prevent the waste.

Crumbs and nugget pieces tend to collect at theentrance and exit of the fryer. Use a squeegee or dustpan to pick them up, and dispose of them properly.

As inedible materials fall on the floor, pick them up or place trays in strategic spots to catch them. Empty the trays and dispose of the inedible material in collection barrels.

Before, during, and after your shift, scrape or squeegee up any grease blobs from the floor and from the fryer entrance and exit. Dispose of the grease in approved barrels for recovery or discovery.

Watch your machine for signs of disrepair or worn-out parts. When you see a loose bolt that you cannot tighten or if the machine needs to be serviced, notify your line supervisor.

Watch for signs of possible sources of BOD. If you see excess waste in an area, report it to your supervisor and offer your suggestions for ways to reduce it.

Make sure that trays are in place to catch waste, grease, and other materials that fall from the machine. Be sure that the trays are emptied before they become too full. The trays will help make it easier to keep your work area clean.

Small leaks along the tunnels can let pieces of frozen nuggets and crumbs fall out onto the floor. Place a tray beneath these areas to catch the waste.

If any waste does get onto the floor, sweep it up and dispose of it properly.

Make sure that trays are emptied promptly to prevent any spillage onto the floor.

Watch for waste accumulation in your area. Report any unusual collection to your supervisor for evaluation and possible ways to prevent it.

As the conveyor belt moves along, some of the frozen product usually falls onto the floor. Although your job is fast-paced, it is vital to get this material upoff the floor before hosing down. Sweep the area well before and after your shift to remove all waste before the cleanup crew or next shift arrives. Keeping your work area clean will help make your work move along smoothly.

When the product is moving onto the final conveyor belt, make sure that it stays on the belt. If any of the nuggets or patties fall onto the floor, stop and take a minute to sweep them up and put them into approved barrels.

As you pull any inedible material off the line, dispose of it properly. Make sure that your aim is true and that the material falls into the approved disposal containers, not onto the floor.

Watch for worn-out belts and other machine parts. Keep an eye out for places where waste seems to build up more than others or areas where small changes would reduce waste. Tell your supervisor your suggestions.

Make it your goal to clean the equipment with the least possible water. Your crew uses more water than any others in the plant, so you have more opportunities to save. Also, you see where the most waste builds up so perhaps you can suggest ways to prevent it. Your ideas can help reduce the amount of waste that reaches the drain and can also cut down the amount of waste that you have to clean up.

Although pressurized water is your main tool for cleaning the former, former plungers, inside cabinets, conveyor belt, and tempura dip and batterer sections, you can cut water use drastically, mainly by using dry cleanup. Dislodge the bits of flesh, breading, batter, and other materials hanging on the equipment by using a sanitized brush and bucket instead of washing it down the drain. Sweep up or pick up any of these bits that fall onto the floor before you hose it down.

During the last two to three hours of the shift, cut down on water by using it only when absolutely necessary. Open your hose controls only when needed and close them immediately after use. Use dry cleanup methods as often as possible.

During the transition from second to third shift, waste is left on the belts, mixers, and lines. Batter, tempura, and flour are left on the equipment. Collect as much of this material as possible by hand or with brush and buckets. Hose the lines only after all possible waste has been collected by hand and by vacuuming.

Make sure that all trays and barrels are emptied promptly and properly. Don't tip batter barrels down the drain; empty them into the collection bins for recovery.

Keep waste material off the floor and out of the drains. Watch for ways to reduce water use and waste production. Tell your supervisor about anything you have noticed that could be done better to reduce water use and waste.

Save water -- that's the watchword. Don't use it to dislodge bits an d pieces of meat because they just go down the drain and increase the plant's BOD. Useoff the floor before hosing down. Sweep the area well before and after your shift to remove all waste before the cleanup crew or next shift arrives. Keeping your work area clean will help make your work move along smoothly.

Watch for areas where waste builds up the most. You may discover a machinery problem or better work practices that could prevent this accumulation. Also, take note of your own work practices. See where you can save water, and take steps to prevent any of the inedible material from going down the drain.

Before hosing the floor, use a broom and dustpan to pick up any pieces of meat that have fallen onto the floor and put them in the collection tubs. This will keep the meat out of the drain and keep our BOD low.

Keep water use to a minimum while cleaning. Use the pressurized hoses only when you really need them, and turn them off when not in use. The more water you use, the more waste goes down the drain.

Watch for waste buildup in your area. Tell your supervisor about these areas so steps can be taken to prevent any unnecessary waste.

Control the flow of water into the fryer tunnels. If too much goes in, a mixture of oil and water, along with detergent suds from the fryer, will go onto the floors and into the drains. Prevention is the best policy. The oil and detergent is a major source of BOD and water pollution.

Scrape or squeegee up any grease blobs that coat the floor of the fryer section before hosing down the floor. Pick up any inedible material before you turn the hoses on.

Make sure that the trays are in good shape and that they are catching the waste as they're supposed to. Scrape out all inedible material from the trays before hosing them down.

Minimize water use; turn on the hoses only when absolutely necessary. Use your knowledge of the area to find ways of cutting down on water use.

Collect all accumulated waste on the conveyor lines before using the hoses. Use brooms,buckets, brushes, and your hands for dry cleanup before hosing the area.

Crumbs will collect under the conveyor line, above the line where the nuggets are weighed and dropped, and at all the exits. Be sure to brush up this waste and put it into recovery barrels before hosing down.

Watch for any extra buildup of waste in your area and report it, along with your suggestions for preventing it, to your supervisor.

Collect all inedible material and crumbs from the floor with brooms and your hands before hosing down to prevent them from going down the drains.

Scrape or brush all inedible material out of the collection trays and put it into the recovery containers before hosing the trays down. Make sure that the trays are in good shape and doing their job properly.

You and your coworkers can help reduce your plant's waste load by about 50 percent by switching to dry cleanup practices. It's much easier and less costly to keep waste from getting into the plant's drains than to take i t out of the wastewater later on. No waste treatment system is perfect. So the more waste you can prevent in the plant, where it starts, the cleaner your environment and your children's environment will be.

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