SAR reduction in cattle hide processing wastewater.

The Murgon cattle hide processing plant operated by Teys-Cargill currently produces approximately 150,000 litres of wastewater per day. This water is treated on-site through a decentralised wastewater treatment plant. In order to maintain an environmentally relevant activity (ERA) licence to reuse the recycled water for pasture irrigation, the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) needs to be reduced to an average of 6. A new infrastructure addition to the treatment chain through a collaborative effort by Teys-Cargill, Midell Water and Central Queensland University aims to treat the effluent using natural zeolite cation exchange filters to harden the water and meet the target SAR.