Water Conservation Methods Presented at Conference

Over the past several years, Omega Protein Corp. has developed processes to conserve approximately 18 million gal of water annually by reclaiming water through the processing of fish, rather than removing that water from the ground. The water is treated and then used in the plant to wash down equipment and used to seal the vacuum pump in the company's evaporator.

Omega Protein, a nutritional product company and an integrated producer of omega-3 fish oil and specialty protein products, will present information about its water reclamation and water reuse initiative at the Virginia Manufacturers Assn. (VMA)'s Virginia Industrial and Environmental Conference (VIEC).

The company will be represented by Bill Purcell, the company's environmental manager.

Purcell will sit on the panel with Todd Furbee, president of Delta Pure and Dr. Frank Gutpon, interim chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. This panel of industry and scientific experts will showcase innovative ways they are utilizing technology to manage water supply and reuse concerns, while managing both regulatory requirements as good stewards of the environment and critical production requirements.

Water reclamation and reuse is just one of several environmentally-conscious initiatives undertaken at Omega Protein's Reedville facility in recent years. The price tag on these upgrades is well over $20 million. Here is a list of a few of these projects:

• Switching to renewable diesel oil (waste animal fats) in the company's boilers in its processing facility. This allows the company to use a cleaner burning, carbon neutral product;
• Installing new, state of the art airless dryers that allow the company to incinerate non-condensable gases. Omega Protein is the only location in North America with this technology.
• Equipping the company's two upgraded fishing vessels with two new Tier 2 engines and five new auxiliary Tier 2 engines that burn less fuel and therefore reduce emissions.

Source: Omega Protein Corp.