ABSTRACT
The dairy industry is generally considered to be the largest source of food processing wastewater
in many countries. As awareness of the importance of improved standards of wastewater
treatment grows, process requirements have become increasingly stringent. Although the dairy
industry is not commonly associated with severe environmental problems, it must continually
consider its environmental impact — particularly as dairy pollutants are mainly of organic origin.
For dairy companies with good effluent management systems in place [1], treatment is not a major
problem, but when accidents happen, the resulting publicity can be embarrassing and very costly.