Source Control and Biological Treatment of
Artichoke Processing Wastewaters
GRANVILLE W. PERKINS, General Manager
Artichoke Industries, Inc.
11599 Walsh Street
Castroville, California 95012
RONALD A. TSUGITA, Principal Engineer
James M. Montgomery, Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Walnut Creek, California 94596
RUDY J. TeKIPPE, Vice President
James M. Montgomery, Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Pasadena, California 91101
INTRODUCTION
The Salinas Valley of central, coastal California leads the world in the production of
processed artichokes. Prior to 1972, artichoke packing and canning processes created a
difficult problem in wastewater management because of the high organic and hydraulic
loads involved in this production. In addition, the magnitude of the problem increased
linearly with the rapidly increasing output. With the enactment of industrial sewage
ordinances in 1963, the specific problem facing this industry was to reduce both the amount
and strength of its wastewater flows.
A careful inventory of water uses within Artichoke Industries' plant at Castroville,
California, resulted in a program of wastewater recycling and conservation which
eventually reduced wastewater flow to 20,000 gpd, a 95% decrease from peak flows of
400,000 gpd in 1958. However, the strength of this wastewater varied in the range 20,000 to
37,000 mg/l COD. Prior investigation revealed that chemical precipitation of this
extremely high COD wastewater flow was both costly and inefficient. Consequently, a nine
month pilot plant study was undertaken in 1971 -1972 to determine the relative merits of two
other treatment systems: activated sludge with extended aeration and anaerobic filters. This
paper describes the results of these pilot plant investigations and the resulting effectiveness
of the full-scale plant in meeting Artichoke Industries' discharge problems.
BACKGROUND
The unincorporated community of Castroville is located near the mouth of the Salinas
Valley in Monterey County. In 1970 the population of Castroville was approximately 3,800.
The major business activities of the community are two artichoke processing plants and six
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