MIKE MORSE, CLEAN WATER TECHNOLOGIES NARRATIVE SUMMARY

Wastewater quality at the Empacadora Mar fish processing plant was evaluated and compared with wastewater quality at other fish processing plants throughout the world. Colloidal pollutants were found to affect process efficiency significantly. An industrial scale Bubble Accelerated Flotation system (BAF) was installed and operated at Empacadora Mar for three months during the summer of 2001. The results obtained from the BAF system indicated the efficient removal of suspended solids at a high rate. The remaining chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the wastewater after flotation was found to originate from colloidal protein pollutants. The problem of polluted wastewater in Ensenada is of great concern for citizens living near the fish processing industrial park, so much so that complaints had been filed with the city authorities about the unpleasant smell coming from the processing plants. This project stimulated discussions between the Empacadora Mar wastewater treatment plant operators and the research team to identify possible strategies to eliminate, or at least reduce, the problem. Selected strategies were studied and implemented. Details regarding the project and efforts to solve the problem were published in a newspaper article in the El Mexicano on May 20, 2001