An examination of water quality entering Irish dairy processors

Agriculture plays an important role in the Irish economy. It provides food and employment and has strong linkages with the agri-food and other sectors. The abolition of EU milk quotas in April 2015 provided a platform for agriculture to grow significantly and thus scope to improve existing processing practices emerged. The nature of the dairy industry makes it extremely water intensive, this research indicates on average 2.44 m³ of water are required to process 1 m³ of milk. The long term sustainability issues surrounding water supply require make it imperative that alternative sources are investigated. However, for these alternative sources to be acceptable the current cleanliness of water entering the process must be analysed closely, to provide a datum level of acceptable cleanliness. This study reviews the current Potable Water Standards in detail and investigates the level of compliance being achieved by 6 internationally trading dairy co-operatives within the Republic of Ireland. Results from this detailed study illustrate that current cleanliness levels far surpass the EU standards recommendations thus providing a tangible target for waste water recovery systems with the objective of satisfying customer concerns regarding reusing process water.