From honesty and integrity to innovation and sustainability, Sanderson Farms’ commitment to adopting a fresh approach in everything it does remains true. The Mississippi-based company has annual sales of more than $2.77 billion and a weekly processing capacity of 9.375 million chickens. It has also received a handful of excellence awards for its wastewater treatment operations.
For example, in 2009, the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) awarded Sanderson’s Farms’ Moultrie, Georgia wastewater plant the 2009 Clean Water Award. The Moultrie processing facility processes approximately 1,250,000 birds per week and employs more than 1,400 people. It also includes a 1.7 million-gallon-per-day on-site pre-treatment plant and a 15.4-million-gallon covered anaerobic lagoon that equalizes flow to the wastewater treatment plant and effectively acts as an odor-control system. After the wastewater is treated in an activated sludge treatment plant, a pump station and force main transfer pre-treated effluent to the land application system for final treatment and nutrient utilization. The land application system provides irrigation for 400 acres of Alicia Bermuda grass for hay production.
“The effluent from the activated sludge system is pumped to a holding pond that provides irrigation to 400 acres by utilizing a buried solid-set sprinkler system,” says Bob Billingsley, director of development and engineering. “The effluent is sprayed at a prescribed slow rate, allowing complete infiltration into the soil, which results in a beneficial recycling of constituents in the wastewater effluent.”
Since the beginning of the land application system, monitoring results have shown a significant improvement in the quality of groundwater due to the implementation, adds Billingsley.
In 2012, Sanderson Farms’ Flowood, Mississippi further processing facility received the same Clean Water Award for its system that pre-treats wastewater before sending it to the City of Jackson’s publicly owned treatment works.
“The facility’s pre-treatment system utilizes an equalization basin, aeration basin and two dissolved air flotation systems to remove solids and wastewater constituents [based on Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality NPDES permit] before sending effluent to the City of Jackson’s publicly owned treatment works,” says Billingsley. “The foods facility received the award as a result of its excellence in wastewater pre-treatment, community involvement and environmental stewardship.”
Sanderson Farms’ Kinston, North Carolina processing facility also received USPOULTRY’s 2016 Clean Water Award for Excellence in the full treatment category. This facility’s wastewater treatment system consists of an anaerobic lagoon, activated sludge system, ultra-violet disinfection and a land application system that sprays effluent water onto hay fields and forest land. Its pressure swing adsorption system refines biogas into pipeline-quality natural gas that can be utilized throughout the processing facility.
Meanwhile, the company’s new St. Pauls, North Carolina processing plant features a wastewater treatment system that consists of an anaerobic lagoon, activated sludge system, ultra-violet disinfection and a land treatment system.
“Once completed, the land treatment system will spray effluent water from the wastewater treatment system onto hay fields and forest land,” adds Billingsley. “At Sanderson Farms, we utilize the latest technology in wastewater treatment, so that disposal, treatment and energy costs can be reduced. Cost recovery is achieved by utilizing energy sources produced by anaerobic decomposition.
By optimizing wastewater treatment, less energy is used to achieve full treatment.”
Another advantage to the wastewater system is that land application further utilizes the fully treated water to produce agricultural and silviculture products, he says.
“In 2008, Sanderson Farms established baseline values for water, electricity and natural gas usage. The company monitors our progress each year against these baseline goals as well as against the metrics of our industry peers. Since 2008, we have reduced our electricity usage by 21%, reduced natural gas usage by 39% and reduced water usage by 42%. These reductions occurred even with the addition of three new poultry complexes since 2008,” says Billingsley.
