Waste Management at Hickmott Foods, Inc.
A Case Study of a Small Tomato Cannery
G. TCHOBANOGLOUS, Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
University of California at Davis
Davis, California 95616
B. OSTERTAG, Food Industry Consultant
Pittsburg, California 94565
INTRODUCTION
Located in Antioch, California, Hickmott Foods, Inc., is a small independent tomato
cannery. Until required to meet state and federal discharge requirements, cannery wastes
were discharged directly to a nearby river with little or no treatment. To meet the discharge
requirements an extensive internal and external wastewater management program has been
undertaken. In this connection the most important purpose of this paper is to present and
discuss, in a case study format, the significant and, in some cases, unnerving events that
occurred in the development of an acceptable system. Another purpose is to document
some of the novel engineering features ultimately incorporated in the treatment facility. A
third purpose is to delineate some important design considerations based on two years of
actual operation. Performance data for the wastewater treatment plant are also reported.
Subsequent to the adoption of discharge requirements for Hickmott Foods, Inc. by the
State Water Resources Control Board in April 1971, a variety of engineering studies were
undertaken before an agreement was reached on the process to be adopted. After a number
of false starts, final plans and specification became available in March of 1973.
Construction on the wastewater treatment facilities was started late in April 1973 and
continued into early August 1973. Construction of items such as hand rails, stairs, etc.,
continued late into the year.
ORIGINAL PROCESS FLOWSHEET
The process flowsheet for the original treatment plant as designed and ultimately
constructed is shown in Figure 1. An overall plot plan is shown in Figure 2. As shown in
Figures 1 and 2, the principal features of the process included: 1) a raw waste line from the
main cannery building to the treatment plant; 2) solids separation facilities; 3) a pH
adjustment tank; 4) two treatment lagoons; 5) an effluent sump and pumps; 6) an effluent
discharge line from the effluent sump to the  river; and 7) an effluent diffuser.
Operationally, canning wastes from the process lines are collected in a sump located
near the main canning building. From there they are pumped to the solids separation
facilities where the large solids are removed on vibrating screens. Effluent from the screens
590