Sustainability is a subject that is on everybody’s lips today. The poultry industry is making many efforts to tackle this issue and comes up with various solutions concerning energy saving, CO₂ footprint, food safety, traceability and water use. For responsible water use, Marel Poultry offers solid practical solutions. One clear example of this is the Mazzraty poultry processing plant in Qatar, equipped with a well-thought-out water management system.

Chicken production has a naturally low carbon footprint and requires a limited amount of resources, such as fertiliser, land and water. Using 2,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of chicken meat, poultry production needs a fairly modest amount of water. Just to compare, one kilogram of chocolate uses 17,000 litres of water.

Water isn’t lost

However, water use doesn’t mean that this water is lost. Recycling options are available to treat the water and make it fit for renewed use. The poultry industry has elaborated solutions for this. Mazzraty in Qatar called in the help of Marel Water Treatment to set up today’s most modern water treatment installation. This poultry facility is located in the desert, where nothing grows, so Mazzraty is highly aware of the importance of clean water in these circumstances.

Treatment

Water Treatment starts already in the poultry processing plant. All water used for transport, for cleaning and for the various stages of processing, is collected and drained to the water treatment facilities. In the first phase, the physical pretreatment takes out fat material and larger coarse parts. After that, the biological process takes over to decompose the pollution in a big basin and convert it to biological sludge and purified water.

Irrigation

In the direct surroundings of Mazzraty’s poultry processing plant, four large green circles in the middle of the yellow sand plain catch the eye. This is irrigated land, made fertile with the help of Mazzraty’s treated water. Besides being used for truck washing, the purified water is excellently fit for artificial irrigation of areas that are otherwise dry land. Mazzraty manages to drive four centre pivot systems with this recycled water to irrigate four quarter sections (each 800 x 800 metres). The company grows mainly grass, which they can use in their feed mills.

Lowest impact

Mazzraty’s facility has been designed to not waste or leave behind residual material and all activities aim at causing the lowest possible impact on the environment. The reuse of cleaned wastewater from the factory as irrigation water is part of Mazzraty’s bigger environmental plan, which also involves a reduced CO₂ emission and production of their own chicken feed. In this way, Mazzraty demonstrates one of the most sustainable ways of working in the poultry industry.