Section 5.    ANIMAL WASTES
CASE HISTORIES: PRETREATMENT OF
POULTRY PROCESSING WASTEWATER
Kun Hopkins, Unit Coordinator
Technical Support Unit
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
INTRODUCTION
The poultry processing industry in the State of Georgia processes approximately 6.5 million
pounds of birds per day. Georgia contributes 13.50 percent of the nation's total poultry production.
In 1981, about 2,400 million pounds of birds were processed in Georgia. This ranked Georgia as the
largest poultry processing state in the nation.
The City of Gainesville, located in Hall County, has the highest poultry production in the State. In
1982, about 500 million pounds of birds were processed at four poultry processing plants in this area.
The 4.0 MGD of wastewater generated from the processing plants was pretreated prior to discharging
to the 7.0 MGD Gainesville-Flat Creek Water Pollution Control Plant.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the pretreatment processes at these four poultry plants and
summarize raw and pretreated wastewater characteristics, the various treatment processes employed,
chemicals used and the impact of this wastewater on the City's treatment plant.
POULTRY PROCESSING
Four poultry processing plants in Gainesville have the same basic processing procedures. Plants B
and C have added cutting up and packaging of poultry to their processing lines. The cut up poultry
parts are sorted, packaged (on foam trays), weighed, and priced. They are ready to be sold in the
supermarkets once they are shipped from the plants. This type of service has become more and more
attractive to the supermarket owners. Plants A and D ship their poultry meat in ice-packed form.
Figure 1 illustrates poultry processing. It takes approximately 45 minutes to process a live bird.
These four plants process live chickens of size ranging from 2.25 to 4.0 pounds per bird. Live
chickens are transported from within a 50-mile radius to the processing plants. All plants grow (raise)
their own chickens for processing. An average chicken is about seven weeks old when it is processed.
Receiving and Hanging
Plastic coops or haul cages containing live birds are unloaded in the receiving area from the delivery trucks through conveyer belts to the hanging station. Each coop contains about 12 chickens. Live
chickens are hung by their feet on the shackles. Empty coops are returned through conveyor belts to
trucks. The hanging area is always kept dark to pacify the birds.
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