The Aspen guide to Hygienic Drainage Performance

The Aspen guide to Hygienic Drainage Performance

The strictest levels of hygiene are required in food and drink manufacturing applications and is considered one of the most challenging environments to design.

The fundamental reason for applying hygienic design principles in food factories is to prevent cross contamination of food products. Therefore, careful attention must be paid to the infrastructure of a food and drink processing facility but more specifically to the drainage of waste.

There is increased importance placed on food hygiene in food manufacturing facilities in recent months with the recent Covid-19 outbreak across a number of food factories in the UK. These sites have been forced to close to enable deep cleaning and placing a strain on employee operations as well as the safety of the consumer.

Listeria is always high on the agenda for food manufacturers too. Drainage must be kept spotless as listeria can easily be spread throughout plants by walking over contaminated drain grates and the spreading of virus particles.

The drain cleaning process also means pressurised water blasts listeria onto equipment and flooded drains can also get clogged up during the cleaning process. Listeria outbreaks are commonly linked to food factories and often found in the floor and drainage areas of the plant.

All hygienic drainage should also be specified in high quality grade 304 or 316 stainless steel and is determined by the environment and cleaning process. The key reason for this is the smooth, protective and solid chromium oxide layer on top. This ensures the stainless steel is corrosion resistant and the base material does not corrode when in contact with food and other environmental factors. In addition, it’s easy to clean so germs and bacteria cannot attack and raises the hygiene levels within the plant.

Surface finish and condition is critical in the successful application of stainless steel, the smooth surface promotes good cleaning and prevents the risk of corrosion. Quite simply, there is no better material than stainless steel for contact with food. However, attention must also be paid to the drainage specification.

This whitepaper will highlight the best practice in designing and maintaining hygienic environments to ensure optimum performance.

Drainage by Design

An expertly fitted drainage system will have a positive image on the entire factory by boosting the overall hygienic performance. This includes improvement in employee health and safety, operational costs as well as consumer safety. If drainage design is treated as an afterthought during the project lifecycle it forces the client to rectify the drainage at a later stage. This process could involve removing the production equipment, flooring and could disrupt the entire manufacturing process.

Aspen Stainless are experts in the manufacture and installation of bespoke stainless-steel equipment to meet the increasingly stringent demands of hygienic performance.

Aspen have supplied hygienic bespoke solutions to a number of key applications including food and drink processing plants, commercial kitchens, hospitality, leisure sectors and many more.

Please send an email to discuss further.

Add to Project Board

Create a new project board: