must have this subject very high on his list of priorities when contemplating the pros and cons of a factory site, and he must obviously discuss all th implications with the Local Authority or River Board before any location is determined It has already been established that for a medium size vegetable processing plant, some 1 200,000 litres of fluming water, where applicable, and an equal volume of processing waterare going to be discharged to waste each day. The authorities will need to assess the nature and quality of this discharge before any permission will be given for it to pass into any sewer or waterway. The days when effluent could be flushed down the nearest drain regardless of its ultimate destination, are gone in the Western World and disposal today can be a very laborious and expensive business, and expert advice on the subject must be sought. It is not unknown for an effluent treatment plant to cost one third of the value of the process plant, because in certain conditions very intensive treatment is required by the authorities, particularly where the discharge is made into an inland waterway. First, the fluming water is likely to have a high percentage of silt and vegetable matter in it, and, in the processing water effluent, there is likely be starch, spent lye, solid vegetable matter and various chemical compounds from the blanching water The scale of treatment required will depend on the level of contamination, and the Biochemical Oxygen Demand of the discharge, and the processor will possibly have to decide between steam and lye, orabrasive peeling of vegetables in the context of the different effects these methods will have on his effluent problems. Lye peeling, involving concentrated solutions of sodium hydroxide, will create a high BOD in the effluent, and the treatment cost on this account may be considerably higher than if steam peeling was used. Steam peelers involve a higher capital plant investment but this may be offset by a lesser involvement in effluent treatment, therefore no hard and fast rules can be laid down for any specific case. Abrasive peeling of potatoes releases large quantities of free starch from potatoes, and this again creates a serious treatment problem. Some large potato processors, who have been committed to abrasive peeling, have had to install expensive starch manufacturing plants to dry the free starch collected in settling tanks used as the first stage of effluent treatment although the financial recovery from this by-product is so low that it cannot over the capital investment or the operating costs, but the exercise has to be done as a progressive stage in the overall effluent treatment system he method of disposal, therefore, must be considered in the light of local circumstances, and the following options may be open to the dehydrator:must have this subject very high on his list of priorities when contemplating the pros and cons of a factory site, and he must obviously discuss all the implications with the Local Authority or River Board before any location is determined. It has already been established that for a medium size vegetable processing plant, some 1,200,OOO litres of fluming water, where applicable, and an equal volume of processing water are going to be discharged to waste each day. The authorities will need to assess the nature and quality of this discharge before any permission will be given for it to pass into any sewer or waterway. The days when effluent could be flushed down the nearest drain regardless of its ultimate destination, are gone in the Western World and disposal today can be a very laborious and expensive business, and expert advice on the subject must be sought. It is not unknown for an effluent treatment plant to cost one third of the value of the pmcess plant, because in certain conditions very intensive treatment is required by the authorities, particularly where the discharge is made into an inland waterway First, the fluming water is likely to have a high percentage of silt and vegetable matter in it, and, in the processing water effluent, there is likely to be starch, spent lye, solid vegetable matter and various chemical compounds from the blanching water. The scale of treatment required will depend on the level of contamination, and the Biochemical Oxygen Demand of the discharge, and the processor will possibly have to decide between steam and lye, or abrasive peeling of vegetables in the context of the diffenmt effects these methods will have on his effluent pmblems. Lye peeling, involving concentrated solutions of sodium hydroxide, will create a high BOD in the effluent, and the treatment cost on this account may be considerably higher than if steam peeling was used. Steam peelers involve a higher capital plant investment but this may be offset by a lesser involvement in effluent treatment, therefore no hard and fast rules can be laid down for any specific case. Abrasive peeling of potatoes releases large quantities of free starch from potatoes, and this again creates a serious treatment problem. Some large potato processors, who have been committed to abrasive peeling, have had to install expensive starch manufacturing plants to dry the free starch collected in settling tanks used as the first stage of effluent treatment, although the financial recovery from this by-product is so low that it cannot cover the capital investment or the operating costs, but the exercise has to be done as a progressive stage in the overall effluent treatment system. The method of disposal, therefore, must be considered in the light of local circumstances, and the following options may be open to the dehydrator: 36