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WATTPoultryUSA The plant sits on the shore of Lake Guntersville, the home of Lake Guntersville State Park. Courtesy of Pilgrim's Pride Corp us," Thomas Percer, Pilgrim's complex environmental manager, said. "Our attitude is that if its starts clean it will stay clean," Ryan Turner, Pilgrim's complex manager, said. "We put a lot of effort into having a focus on litter pick-up from our sanitation crews, employees and contractors." How the poultry plant handles wastewater The attitude of improving the lives of others through daily work continues in operations and environmental efforts. The poultry plant processes an average of 1.46 million broilers per five-day week to produce 7.1 million dressed pounds via two processing shifts and a third shift sanitation crew. There are 1,302 employees at the Guntersville complex and 200 growers. The facility won the overall Pilgrim's Best Environmental Audit Score for 2016. With corporate headquarters located in Greeley, Colorado, Pilgrim's has operations in 14 U.S. states as well as in Mexico and Puerto Rico. It is owned by Brazilian company JBS S.A., the world's largest protein company. JBS now controls 78.5 percent of Pilgrim's stock. Percer said the audit reflects the 144 years of combined ex- perience and dedication of the eight members of the complex's wastewater team. It also indicates the facility's focus on operational excellence that adds value for its key customers. Poultry wastewater treatment includes screening prior to a wet well operated with pH adjustment and liquid level-based flow control to enhance the targeted chemistries deployed in the new dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit. Prior to discharge to the city wastewater treatment system, the pH is again adjusted. In addition to the new DAF, the wastewater layout was reconfigured to improve the overall operation. Stormwater management Stormwater capture and management benefited from the wastewater treatment upgrades as existing pumps were recycled to a lift station, increasing its capacity. Other structural upgrades at both the cooling sheds and the back of the plant, along with larger pumps, ensure that stormwater related to industrial activities is collected and directed back to wastewater. High water level alarms were installed at three stormwater lift stations and the wastewater wet well to send alerts to maintenance and management, promoting prevention of wastewater upsets. The result is greater capture of secondary protein VISIT US VIV Euro AT pe Boo th E064 (Hall 11) 20-22 Ju ne 2018 First choice in agricultural ventilation components tpi-polytechniek.com tpi-polytechniek.com April 2018 ❙ www.WATTAgNet.com | The Netherlands ❙ 55