Achieved Energy-Efficient Management of Livestock Wastewater Treatment

DKK-TOA (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Toshio Takahashi; Security Code: 6848), a consolidated subsidiary, Yamagata-Toa DKK Corporation (Head Office: Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture; Representative Director: Akira Sasaki) commercialized a BOD monitoring system (hereinafter referred to as this system) utilizing the BOD biosensor ※2 of the Agricultural Research Institute.

This system adjusts the aeration (plating, air supply) of purification facilities according to BOD values by measuring BOD in wastewater in a short time using power generating bacteria in wastewater treatment facilities such as livestock houses. This will reduce power consumption while maintaining the quality of treated water, and also use IoT technology to remotely monitor the operating status of wastewater treatment facilities.

In March 2005, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries formulated the "Code of Conduct for Agricultural Production in Harmony with the Environment," which aims to reduce environmental impact and save energy in the feeding and production of livestock. Particularly, sewage treatment in livestock production has a large environmental impact, requiring environmentally friendly wastewater treatment control technology. Furthermore, in 2019, the provisional wastewater standard for nitrogen (nitrate nitrogen, etc.) for livestock industry was lowered by the Water Pollution Control Law. This standard has been revised every three years and is expected to become even more stringent in the future.

At wastewater treatment facilities, adjusting the aeration of the purification facility according to the BOD value is highly effective in reducing power consumption. However, it was difficult to apply to aeration control because the conventional BOD measurement method takes five days. This system utilizes generating bacteria that generate electric currents when decomposing organic matter, and by predicting BOD values of purification facilities in a short time (6 hours), enhances the responsiveness of operation control to eliminate excessive aeration and contributes to reduction of power consumption. In addition, IoT technologies enable remote monitoring of measurement water quality using smartphones and other devices, as well as alert emails and other functions that inform customers of water quality defects, which also contributes to improving the efficiency of facility maintenance and management.

We have completed the development after three years of demonstration experiments conducted by public testing research institutes and companies participating in the project, and we will sell this product in cooperation with related organizations to promote its widespread use.

※1 1 BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) Biochemical Oxygen Demand, an indicator of water pollution, is a key measure in wastewater purification treatment and river water quality monitoring.
※2 Technologies (Microbial Electrolysis Cell/Patent No. 6327718) devised by the National Institute of Agriculture and Food Industry (National Institute of Agriculture and Food Industry) through the Innovative Technology Development and Emergency Development Project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (of which a project to strengthen management entities).