Unconventional High Performance
Activated Sludge Treatment of
Pharmaceutical Wastewater
W.G. BARKER, Environmental Engineer
Corporate Environmental Control
MARK R. STUMPF, P.E., Manager
Waste Control Department
DAVID SCHWARZ, Director
Corporate Environmental Control
Abbott Laboratories
North Chicago, Illinois 60064
INTRODUCTION
Abbott Laboratories is a major pharmaceutical manufacturer whose sales in 1972
reached $521 million. The corporation is divided into six major operating divisions with
manufacturing plants in 31 lands. The largest of these and the one that is the subject of this
paper is our plant located in North Chicago, Illinois.
Our North Chicago plant is located on 56 acres within '/2 mile of lake Michigan
approximately forty miles north of downtown Chicago. We employ about 4,700 people at
this site in production of chemical, fermentation, pharmaceutical and hospital products.
These basic chemical and fermentation production operations consist of batch processes
with much of the equipment multi-purpose, ranging in size from small 25-gallon reactors to
the large 35,000-gallon fermentors. Pharmaceutical and hospital production consists of
formulation of basic ingredients into final forms such as tablets, ointments, creams,
powders, and solutions. Extensive utility operations — including high pressure process
steam boilers, demineralizers, triple distilled water stills and refrigerating and air
compressor facilities — are required to support these manufacturing activities.
Over many years we have developed an integrated system of pollution control
techniques to effectively control the pollutants resulting from these manufacturing
operations. Often the technology required was not available and extensive developmental
and innovative engineering was necessary. We have achieved many notable technical
successes, and much of this work has been described in detail in other technical
publications. This paper will briefly trace these developmental efforts and describe the
present wastewater treatment operations in greater detail.
DEVELOPMENT OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT
In 1921 Abbott Laboratories moved to its present location in North Chicago, Illinois.
A modern chemical production facility was built and expanded as new and more effective
drugs were developed. Compared to present facilities this was a small operation and though
we have no records, the environmental impact of this plant would have been small. In 1939,
the first documented step in pollution control took place when the Illinois Sanitary Water
Board in conjunction with Abbott personnel initiated a survey to establish the wastewater
characteristics and loadings. The conclusion was that pH and solids were the primary
concern. Shortly after this, the first industrial treatment facility on Chicago's North Shore
was put in operation by Abbott. These consisted of sedimentation lagoons and
neutralization and chlorination facilities.
During World War II Abott Laboratories entered the field of antibiotics with the
production of penicillin. Research soon discovered other anitbiotics and we expanded our
fermentation as well as our chemical manufacturing facilities. Along with this expanded
production during the late forties it was determined that secondary treatment would be
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