**3.1 Wastewater characterization**

394 Mass Transfer - Advanced Aspects

possible to understand the need for flexibility of the treatment system, because the system should allow good removal yields, during the vintage period, but has also to remain in operation during the rest of the year even at low loads. In small wineries often there is a minor stream of wastewater during several months, which may lead to bioreactor inefficient performance. To overcome this situation a feast/famine strategy may be a challenge for

Fig. 7. Distribution of water consumption during the global period of processing at a

Fig. 8. Distribution of water consumption during the global period of processing at a small

The physicochemical characterization assessment is carried out by determining specific parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total solids, suspended solids, total polyphenol compounds, anionic surfactants. In order to evaluate the fate of treated wastewater, it is also important to know the winery surroundings, in particular the existence of a sewage, the irrigation area, the type of structures and available areas, among others. In wineries that intend to reuse the treated wastewater for irrigation, other concerns should be considered. The domestic wastewater flow containing high concentration of pathogenic microorganisms should not be mixed with the industrial wastewater stream. This flow should be treated separately or discharged in the sewage. This decision is extremely important, since the wastewater from winery operations does not contain pathogenic

future research at a full-scale.

Adapted from Duarte *et al*. (2004).

medium dimension winery

dimension winery

The winery wastewater was collected, during four years, from three wineries of different sizes and characteristics and located in different Regions of Portugal. The Casa Agrícola Quinta da Casa Boa, located at Runa, Lisboa Region, producing only red wines, has a small/medium dimension with a production capacity of 200,000 L. The Catapereiro, located at Alcochete, Tejo Region, produces both white and red wines, has a medium dimension with a production capacity of 1 000,000 L of wine. The Herdade da Mingorra, located at Beja, Alentejo Region, has a medium dimension with a production capacity of 1 000,000 L of wine (Figure 9 to Figure 14).

Composite samples of the winery wastewater, representative of each phase of the process, were taken and maintained at 4ºC. A set of major key parameters were defined and analysed, according to *Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater* (1998), in order to assess the winery wastewater pollutant charge: pH, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), polyphenols, anionic surfactants, Na, K, Mg and Ca. The winery wastewater flows were evaluated from water consumption. With this propose the wineries installed general water counters to be daily read and register.
