J APPL POULT RES 2007. 16:652-655. doi:10.3382/japr.2006-00122
© 2007 Poultry Science Association
Water Use and Reuse in Commercial Turkey Processing Facilities
J. K. Northcutt1
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30604
Correspondence: 1 Corresponding author: julie.northcutt{at}ars.usda.gov
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SUMMARY
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A survey of turkey processing facilities was conducted to determine the average volume of water used per bird during processing, the average amount of recycled processing water, and the types of poultry processing antimicrobial treatments. Ninety-three surveys were sent out to turkey processing facilities in the United States. Twenty-six surveys were completed and returned (28%). The combined processing capacity of the 26 facilities that responded to the survey was approximately 1.03 million birds per day or 71% of the total US turkey production (252 million annually). Most of the facilities that responded to the survey reported operating 5 d each week using city water (85%) and discharging wastewater through the city sewer system (77%). The average amount of water used during processing was reported to be approximately 30 gal per turkey—an increase of 23% with the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program. Approximately 92% of the respondents reported using a cage or truck washing station. Thirty-one percent of the facilities reported that they recycle processing water. Data from the present survey may be of interest to turkey processing facilities that want to establish a water conservation program.
Key Words: turkey • processing • water • Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program
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DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
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Water has become an important natural resource because of limited availability, variable quality, increasing water and sewer costs, strict discharge requirements, and growing demands to divert supplies to residential areas [1, 2, 3]. It has been estimated that water covers 70% of the surface of the Earth (approximately 326 million cubic miles), yet much of this water is unusable by humans (99.7%), because it is either inaccessible (water vapor) or in need of additional treatment (salt water or ice) [4]. Berrittella et al. [5] reported that 70% of the available water is used for agriculture, and a large portion of agriculture water (40 to 90%) may be consumed during production and processing and may be nonrecoverable [6].
Scarce water resources are of great concern to the poultry industry, because water is used at nearly every stage of processing. Poultry processing facilities use water during electrical stunning, scalding, defeathering, carcass washing, carcass chilling, offal removal, product movement, and equipment and facility sanitation [7, 8, 9]. In 2002, there were several reports from poultry processing facilities where production capacity was limited because water was scarce and supplies were highly variable [3, 9]. Consequently, there has been renewed interest in water conservation-reuse programs and alternatives to use of water during processing of poultry [3, 8, 10].
In the late 1990s, the amount of water used to process a single bird dramatically increased as a result of regulatory pressure designed to improve microbiological safety [2, 3, 10, 11]. Although efforts have gradually reduced the amount of water used to process poultry, facilities still report using more water than they did before Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) implementation [2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10]. There have been many reports describing water usage during the processing of broilers [2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10], but few have evaluated water usage during turkey processing [8]. The present survey of turkey processing facilities was conducted to determine average water use, water reuse and recycling, and other common industry practices.
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FIELD REPORT
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A survey was conducted in 2005 of turkey slaughtering establishments in the United States. Each establishment was asked to provide the following information via fax, regular mail, or e-mail:
- whether they are on city water and city sewer,
- the average number of birds processed each day (size of facility),
- the average size (lb of live weight) of birds processed,
- number of days and shifts the establishment runs each week,
- current water usage (gal/bird) and water usage before HACCP implementation,
- whether the establishment recycles water and how much water is recycled,
- whether the establishment uses a transport cage or truck washing station, and
- the type(s) of antimicrobial agents.
Ninety-three surveys were sent to turkey processing establishments across the United States, with locations and contact information from Watt Publishing Company [12]. Twenty-six surveys (28%) were completed and returned. Two of the responses (8% of the completed) were from new facilities that were not in operation before 1998 and therefore could not provide data for water use before HACCP implementation. The number of facilities that responded in each state is reported in Table 1
. The state with the greatest number of returned responses was Indiana (15.4%), followed by Missouri (11.5%), Pennsylvania (11.5%), and Virginia (11.5%). The combined production capacity of the facilities that responded to the survey was approximately 1.03 million turkeys per day and represent 71% (178 million turkeys) of annual production (252 million birds in 2005) [13].
Table 2 shows the averages for the number of turkeys processed per day, the live bird weight at processing (lb), amount of water to process each turkey (gal/bird), and amount of water recycled every day (gal/d). In addition, the percentages of the respondents above and below these averages are shown (Table 2). The average number of turkeys processed by the survey respondents was just under 40,000 birds per day; however, numbers ranged from 425 birds per day to 325,000 birds per day, and nearly 85% of the respondents reported processing fewer than 40,000 birds per day. The average size of the turkeys processed was 26 lb/bird, and only a few facilities indicated whether they were processing only hens or toms. Bird weights ranged from 16 to 42 lb among the respondents.
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Table 2. Reported averages and the percentage of the turkey processing facilities above and below these average values
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The majority of the respondents reported using city water (84.6%) during processing and reported discharging wastewater through the city sewer (76.9%) system. Most of the facilities (92.3%) indicated that they process 5 d each week using 1 shift per day (54%). The average water use during processing was found to be 29.7 gal/bird (Table 2
). Respondents indicated that the average water use before HACCP implementation was 24 gal/bird, which translates into a 23% increase in water use due to HACCP. Thornton and O’Keefe [8] conducted a survey in 2002 of 11 turkey processing facilities and reported a 5% increase in water usage due to HACCP. The 11 facilities from their survey indicated that volumes changed from 23.7 gal/turkey before HACCP to 24.9 gal/turkey after HACCP [6]. Data reported in the present study included more than twice as many processing facilities as that of Thornton and O’Keefe [8], possibly accounting for the differences among the values.
Unlike previous reports from broiler processing facilities, the majority of the turkey processing facilities responding to the survey (92.3%) reported using a cage or truck washing station. Northcutt and Jones [9] found that only 28% of 68 broiler processing establishments that they surveyed used a cage or truck washing station. In addition, 30.8% of the turkey processing facilities indicated that they recycle processing water. The average amount of water recycled by turkey processing facilities was 60,000 gal/d or approximately 5% of their daily water consumption (Table 2). The number of turkey processing establishments that recycle water was slightly lower than the number of broiler processing establishment that recycle water (38.5%); however, broiler processing establishments reported recycled more than twice (136,000 gal/d) as much water as the turkey establishments [9]. This difference in water recycling may be related to the location of the facilities responding to the survey. Over 41% of the broiler processing facilities that were surveyed were in the southeastern region of the United States, where drought conditions are more prominent and recycling is more of a necessity. In the present study, only 5 of the facilities that responded to the survey were in the Southeast (North Carolina and Virginia).
Most facilities responding to the survey reported using chlorine (57.7%) as their primary antimicrobial agent during processing (Table 3). Over 15% of the respondents did not report the type of antimicrobial agent used in their facility. Chlorine in combination with other chemicals, such as chlorine dioxide (11.5%), trisodium phosphate (7.7%), and acidified sodium chlorite (3.8%) were also mentioned by the respondents. A few facilities reported that they use only acidified sodium chlorite (3.8%). A similar pattern of antimicrobial agent usage was found in broiler processing establishments where chlorine (45.5%) or the combination of chlorine and acidified sodium chlorite (27.3%) accounted for the majority of the agents used to kill bacteria [7].
Eighty-eight percent of the turkey processing facilities that responded to the survey reported an increase in water usage due to HACCP implementation. This increase has not only added to the expense of HACCP implementation, but it has also created logistical problems as facilities compete for water and wastewater treatment from municipalities. Data from the present study may be useful in identifying areas in the process where turkey operations may begin to implement water conservation and reuse strategies.
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CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS
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- 1. Most turkey processing establishments that were surveyed (88%) reported an increase in processing water usage after HACCP, and the average increase was approximately 6 gal/bird (24 to 30 gal/bird).
- 2. Most (92.3%) of the facilities that responded to the survey use cage or truck washing stations.
- 3. Few respondents (31%) recycle water, and those that do recycle average about 60,000 gal/d or approximately 5% of their daily water consumption.
- 4. A form of chlorine was the primary antimicrobial agent used by the respondents (81%).
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REFERENCES AND NOTES
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- White, G. C. 1999. Water: Earth’s most important natural resource. Page xi in Handbook of Chlorination and Alternative Disinfectants. G. C. White, ed. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, NY.
- Curtis, P. A. 1999. Effect of HACCP regulation on water usage in processing plants. Poult. Int. 7:30A–32A.
- Woodruff, S. R. 2002. Water treatment strategies—Water reuse. Pages 127–134 in Proc. Natl. Poult. Waste Manage. Symp. J. P. Blake and P. H. Patterson, ed. Auburn Univ. Print. Serv., Auburn, AL.
- United States General Accounting Office. 2003. Report to Congressional Requesters. Freshwater supply: states’ views of how federal agencies could help them meet the challenges of expected shortages. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03514.pdf Accessed Jun. 20, 2007.
- Berrittella, M., A. Y. Hoekstra, K. Rehdanz, R. Roson, and R. S. J. Tol. 2007. The economic impact of restricted water supply: A computable general equilibrium analysis. Water Res. 41:1799–1813.[Medline]
- Rijsberman, F. R. 2006. Water scarcity: Fact or fiction? Agric. Water Manage. 80:5–22.[CrossRef]
- Veerkamp, C. 1999. Challenges for water management in processing. Poult. Int. 7:30F–33F.
- Thornton, G., and T. O’Keefe. 2002. Poultry processing: Washing troubles away. Poult. USA 3(8):40, 42, 44.
- Northcutt, J. K., and D. R. Jones. 2004. A survey of water use and common industry practices in commercial broiler processing facilities. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 13:48–54.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Richardson, S. 1999. And then along came HACCP. A.k.a. Water Conservation and waste water management. Pages 1–10 in Proc. US Poult. Egg Assoc. Poult. Processors Workshop, Atlanta, GA.
- Jackson, W. C., and P. A. Curtis. 1998. Effect of HACCP regulation on water usage in poultry processing plants. Pages 434–439 in Proc. Natl. Poult. Waste Manage. Symp. J. P. Blake and P. H. Patterson, ed. Auburn Univ. Print. Serv., Auburn, AL.
- Who’s Who in the Egg & Poultry Industry in the U.S. and Canada. 2002–2003. Pages 192–228. Watt Publ. Co., Mt. Morris, IL.
- USDA. National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2005. Turkeys raised. http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats/indexbysubject.jsp?Text1=&site=NASS_MAIN&select=Select+a+State&Pass_name=&Pass_group=Livestock+%26+Animals&Pass_subgroup=Poultry Accessed Sep. 24, 2007.
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SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
