Evaluation of edible bird's nest processing plant wastewater quality: a factory case study

摘要

Edible bird's nest (EBN) is a rapidly growing industry, especially in Southeast Asia. Cleaning raw EBN is an essential process in an EBN processing plant to remove any contaminant and impurities from the end products. However, this process has introduced a potential risk of environmental pollution through the disposal of the wastewater that may contain contaminants from the EBN. This study was conducted to determine the quality of wastewater from the selected EBN processing plant. Water samples were collected from 4 sampling points (SP) and analysed to determine the water quality index (WQI), metal content, nitrite content and microbiological contamination level. The results showed that the wastewater at SP1 and SP2 was classified as clean, while that of SP3 and SP4 was classified as slightly polluted based on the WQI classification. Metal content analysis results showed that only arsenic was found to exceed the permissible level according to the Environmental Quality Act 1974. The total aerobic count was highest in samples from SP4 with an average reading of 4.72 + 0.47 log CFU/mL.Escherichia coli(E. coli) was only found at all samples from SP4 with an average of 3.20 + 0.05 log CFU/mL. No other coliform readings were obtained from all sampling points. Overall, although the general quality of the wastewater was still at a safe level, the high content of arsenic indicated potential risk to the surrounding environment. Management of wastewater must be improved to ensure an environmentally safe and sustainable EBN production industry.