Anaerobic and Aerobic Ponds for
Packinghouse Waste Treatment in
Louisiana
JAMES F. COERVER, Chief Engineer
Water Supply and Waste Disposal Section
Division of Public Health Engineering
Louisiana State Board of Health
New Orleans, Louisiana
The Division of Public Health Engineering of the Louisiana State Board of
Health has been developing and promoting the use of anaerobic and aerobic waste
stabilization ponds in series for the treatment of abattoir and packinghouse wastes
for several years. Observed satisfactory operation of such facilities at the Autin
Packing Company, Houma, Louisiana prompted this action. The facilities at
Houma were the first of this type to be installed in the state, and similar facilities
at other packinghouses and abattoirs have essentially been patterned thereafter.
DESCRIPTION OF POND SYSTEMS
Treatment facilities for large packinghouses consists of three ponds in series.
The first pond in the series is an anaerobic pond and receives all of the wastes
from animal slaughtering and meat packing, including blood and paunch manure.
The second of the three ponds in series is now referred to as a "transitional" pond.
It is frequently found devoid of dissolved oxygen during daylight hrs, and at other
times saturated with dissolved oxygen. We formerly referred to these transitional
ponds as "recovery" ponds. The plankton and appearance of a transitional pond
is different from that of the third and final pond of the series, which is an aerobic
pond characteristically high in dissolved oxygen content during daylight hrs.
It has been found that it takes a while for new pond installations to "ripen"
and operate at maximum efficiency. During the first six to 12 months of operation a "crust" develops over the anaerobic pond, and the pond does not reach
peak efficiency in BOD removal until the crust essentially covers the entire surface. Our observations indicate that paunch manure plays an important role in
forming this crust. Characteristically the anaerobic pond and also the other ponds
in the series, are nuisance free after the "crust" has been formed.
Performance data on three such pond installations are contained in this report,
particularly from the original installation at Autin Packing Company in Houma,
Louisiana. The other two installations described are the Guillot Packing Company
at Slidell and Stevens Meat Company in Gonzales.
HISTORY
The pond system at the Autin Packing Company in Houma was installed about
16 years ago according to the owner, A. A. Autin. However, there are no records
presently available to definitely establish the date of original use. Autin, who was
very helpful in gathering information on these facilities, advised that the design
intent was for the ponds to act primarily as settling basins. The inner levees
separating the three ponds originally contained French drains made of oyster shells.
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