Biological aspects in the anaerobic digestion of the fish industry wastewater

Investigation article

Abstract

The fish processing industry generates waste with a high degree of contamination in considerable volumes. Various research reports show that wastewater is discharged into the sea without remediation treatment, so that the life of biological species that live in aquatic environments is directly affected. Biological treatments are processes that allow the removal of the contaminant load of the residuals, however, among them, anaerobic digestion is the technology that generates higher yields and tolerance to the characteristics of the wastewater of that industry. Therefore, the present investigation consists in the dissemination of biological technologies and operational aspects of the treatments that have proven their effectiveness on this residue. Yields of up to 95% of chemical oxygen demand removal support the application of this technology in our environment and suggest that the combination with primary and tertiary treatments such as coagulation-flocculation and adsorption would allow to generate an effluent that complies with environmental regulations to discharge the waste in water bodies without altering the ecosystems.

Keywords: Fish industry; wastewater; contamination; ecosystems; biotreatments.