Project overview
Client: Vlevia
Location: Belgium
Industry: Industrial Meat Processing (Beef Cutting)
Study completion date: June 2025
Implementation: October 2025
Key Results
75% Reduction in Chemical Oxygen Demand
Laboratory tests confirmed treatment efficiency below regulatory thresholds
88% Reduction in Suspended Solids
Advanced flotation removes fats and organic particles effectively
Smart Monitoring Integration
Real-time water consumption tracking with AI-powered anomaly detection
The challenge
Vlevia's industrial beef cutting facility follows a strict and systematic cleaning protocol that takes place every evening, consuming approximately 20 to 30 m³ of water. The process begins with mechanical pre-cleaning: pieces of meat are swept into collection bins and removed by truck. This is followed by cleaning all equipment and floors with water, which is where the real challenge begins.
Despite thorough mechanical pre-cleaning, smaller pieces of meat inevitably enter the drainage system. The facility uses 4 mm perforated screens to prevent larger pieces from reaching the wastewater system, but these frequently become clogged during operations. When staff unblock the obstructions, larger pieces can escape, adding to an already complex wastewater composition of fats, proteins, blood and organic matter.
Before reaching the municipal sewer system, wastewater passes through an existing underground grease trap and settling tank with a capacity of only 1.3 m³. Although this system handles some settleable solids and floating fats, periodic quality analyses revealed that it was not sufficient. The facility regularly exceeded key parameters: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and suspended solids. The analyses revealed a particularly difficult problem: a significant portion of the COD existed in the form of colloidal grease droplets that simply did not settle by gravity alone.
Vlevia needed more than a quick fix. They needed a comprehensive solution that would ensure long-term compliance without disrupting their daily production schedule. That's when they contacted Revalio.
Our solution
Revalio designed a comprehensive approach combining rigorous scientific analysis, proven physico-chemical treatment technology, and smart monitoring. all tailored to Vlevia's operational reality.
Understanding the real problem
Rather than rushing to a solution, Revalio began with what many overlook: proper characterisation. The existing data from the facility, only 2 to 3 spot samples per year, could not provide the detailed picture needed for accurate system design. So, in April 2025, we deployed an automated sampling station that operated continuously for a week, taking samples proportional to the flow rate throughout each day's cleaning period.
This was not just a matter of measuring pollution levels. The sampling campaign revealed the dramatic variability of Vlevia's wastewater: average flow rates of 1.36 m³/h regularly reaching peaks of over 10 m³/h during intensive cleaning. These peaks would have required oversized and expensive equipment – unless properly managed with buffer storage. The analysis also confirmed that 40% of the COD was in dissolved or colloidal form, explaining why the existing settling tank could not achieve compliance, regardless of the wastewater retention time.
Key findings from sampling campaign:
COD: 892 mg/L average (limit: 800 mg/L)
Suspended solids: 232-630 mg/L (limit: 300 mg/L)
High variability requiring flow equalization
Significant colloidal fraction resistant to settling
With samples in hand, we went to the laboratory. Jar tests validated different treatment approaches, ultimately confirming that coagulation-flocculation-flotation could achieve a 75% reduction in COD and 88% removal of suspended solids – well below regulatory thresholds.
" Revalio isn't looking to sell a solution; they're looking to work with us to find the best solution that meets our needs but also our constraints. " - Sabine Hottois, Quality Service, Vlevia
Choosing the right technology
We evaluated three treatment approaches based on Vlevia's practical constraints: schedule, budget, operational complexity and space availability.
Simple settling offered easy operation but only 30-50% pollutant removal, which is insufficient for compliance.
At the other extreme, an activated sludge biological treatment plant could achieve near-complete purification. But it would take over a year to implement, be costly, require a large footprint, and need skilled operators for day-to-day management.
The appropriate solution was physico-chemical treatment using a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) unit. Laboratory tests had already proven that it could achieve the required pollutant reductions. The system could be delivered as a pre-configured containerised unit, reducing on-site installation to 3-4 months. The investment cost was moderate, the operational complexity was manageable, and the entire system would fit into only 29 m² of the available space.
System architecture
The solution implemented is based on three components working in harmony. A 20 m³ underground buffer tank receives wastewater from the existing grease trap, smoothing out dramatic flow peaks to a stable flow rate of 1.5 m³/h – optimising the size of the treatment equipment and eliminating the need for costly oversizing.
This stable flow feeds the containerised FAD unit, housed in a 20-foot weatherproof container. Inside, automated systems dose ferric chloride to destabilise fatty colloids, adjust the pH to optimal conditions, add flocculant polymer to form large aggregates, and then use microscopic air bubbles to quickly float these aggregates to the surface, where they are skimmed off. The entire coagulation-flocculation-flotation sequence takes place continuously and automatically.
The concentrated sludge (1.5-2% dry matter) flows to a second 20 m³ underground storage tank, while the clarified water, now comfortably below all permit limits, discharges into the municipal sewer. Finally, a Shayp smart monitoring system connects to the facility's main water meter, providing real-time consumption dashboards and AI-based anomaly detection that helps correlate water usage with wastewater production patterns.
" Properly sizing a treatment system is essential to best meet purification needs without wasting space or money for the customer. We need to find a tailor-made solution." - Aymar de Lichtervelde, Co-founder and CTO, Revalio
Technical deep dive
For the Geeks
Why FAD outperforms simple settling
Beef cutting wastewater contains fats in colloidal form – microscopic droplets stabilised by electrostatic repulsion. Simple settling only removes 30% of COD because these colloids never settle naturally.
The physicochemical process consists of four stages:
Coagulation (FeCl₃ dosing): Ferric ions neutralise electrostatic charges, destabilising the fat droplets and allowing them to aggregate.
pH neutralisation: Maintains optimal conditions for stable floc formation and prevents the resuspension of fats.
Flocculation (polyacrylamide dosing): Long-chain polymers bind the destabilised particles into large, visible flocs.
Dissolved air flotation: Microscopic air bubbles attach themselves to the flocs (which contain low-density fats), quickly lifting them to the surface, where they are skimmed off.
Key advantage over settling: Flotation works in minutes compared to hours for settling, and concentrates sludge to a higher dry matter content (1.5-2% vs. 0.2-0.5%), significantly reducing disposal volumes.
Flow management strategy
The challenge: concentrated wastewater production within a 7-hour window with instantaneous flows varying from single to 10 times higher.
The solution: Simulation of the buffer tank (based on actual flow data) shows that a capacity of 20 m³ prevents overflow while feeding the FAD at a constant flow rate of 1.5 m³/h, optimising treatment efficiency and avoiding oversizing of equipment.
Peak flow rates fill the buffer; during the night and production hours, it empties while treating at the optimal flow rate.
Treatment performance validation
Laboratory results from composite samples (Week 14, 2025):
COD reduction:
Raw wastewater: 892 mg/L
After coagulation-flocculation: 281 mg/L
After flotation: 224 mg/L
Result: 75% reduction, well below the limit of 800 mg/L
Suspended solids reduction:
Raw wastewater: 232 mg/L
After settling alone (2 hours): 119 mg/L
After coagulation-flocculation-flotation: 27 mg/L
Result: 88% reduction, well below the limit of 300 mg/L
Notably, the final COD (224 mg/L) is lower than the fraction of COD soluble in raw water (350 mg/L), proving that the system removes not only particles but also fine colloidal matter.
Advantages of containerised implementation
The pre-configured 20-foot container includes:
Coagulant dosing pump and storage
Flocculant dosing pump and storage
pH adjustment system
Flotation chamber with air dissolution system
Automated controls and monitoring
Sludge skimming mechanism
Advantages:
Factory testing before delivery reduces on-site commissioning
Weather protection ensures year-round operation in the Belgian climate
Acoustic damping for quieter operation
Compact solution that fits within the 112 m² of available space with room to spare
Easy access for maintenance and refilling of consumables
Integration of smart monitoring
The Shayp system provides:
Pulse counting from the main water meter
Cloud-based dashboard with consumption trends
AI algorithms learn normal patterns and flag anomalies
Leak detection with SMS/email alerts
Correlation tools to match water usage to wastewater treatment loads
This enables proactive management: detecting issues before they become compliance problems.
The impact
Vlevia can now focus on providing high-quality beef cutting services with the certainty that environmental obligations are being met automatically and consistently. Processing synchronised with the cleaning schedule from 3 pm to 10 pm means zero disruption to production. Automated operation requires minimal daily intervention, and the production of concentrated sludge means fewer lorry collections compared to the old decanting-only approach. And the Shayp smart monitoring system provides real-time visibility into water consumption and treatment performance, enabling proactive management before small issues become compliance problems.
Benefits achieved:
Regulatory compliance pathway validated by laboratory testing
Operational continuity with no disruption to production
Automated operation with minimal staff intervention
Reduced disposal costs through sludge concentration
Scalable system adapting to future production growth
Smart monitoring for proactive optimisation
Project metrics
Metric | Value |
Sampling period | 7 continuous days (April 2025) |
System type | DAF (dissolved air flotation) - containerised |
Treatment capacity | 1,5 m³/h (36 m³/day) |
Buffer tank volume | 20 m³ |
Footprint | 29 m² in total |
Implementation timeframe | 3-4 months |
Target comissioning date | October 2025 |
COD reduction | 75 % (892 → 224 mg/L) |
TSS reduction | 88 % (232 → 27 mg/L) |
Facing similar challenges?
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