Managing wastewater generated from winery processes poses great
deal of problems that need to be addressed, basically related to
the high organic load and also mainly due to the reason that
loading rate is not always constant throughout the year. The
high organic strength of the influent is basically contributed
by the presence of soluble alcohol, sugars and organic acids
which will cause the BOD/COD levels to go up significantly which
also means that it cannot be simply removed by conventional
mechanical treatment steps. Apart from that, since production in
the wineries only peaked at certain periods of the time
throughout the year, trying to manage wastewater treatment using
activated sludge biological systems with the control mechanism
based on constant loading rate will pose a serious challenge,
unless large treatment lagoons are built since they operate on
higher detention times and overall provides a good buffer system
to prevent pH fluctuation. Typical composition of the incoming
influent usually can b