A blog written by Canal Engineering…

Food and drink factories generate large quantities of waste and it’s estimated that processing just one kilo of meat generates approximately 1.2 litres of waste water.

Therefore, effective management of this waste water in food production is critical to hygiene, productivity and employee safety.

An expertly designed drainage system ensures optimal hygiene standards and also minimises the risks of disruption to production caused by drain blockages, floods and leaks.

It’s important to take a universal approach to the specification when designing your watertight drainage by considering the below key steps:

Correct placement, design and capacity
Quite often not enough consideration is given to required capacity and flow rates for the current and future demands of the factory. Insufficient drainage capacity can lead to flooding which compromises overall health and safety and, more importantly, increases the risk of cross-contamination.

The high and low risk underground drainage systems must be separate but if this is not possible the correct anti back flow gullies can solve this problem. Also, careful consideration needs to be given to the production equipment to ensure drainage is easily accessible.

Quite simply, any equipment placed on top of the drainage will be difficult to access, making it harder to maintain and clean.

The planning of production equipment should work hand in hand with the drainage system, both need to be considered right at the very start of a project.

Reliable floor-drain connection
The drainage needs to be compatible with the flooring to ensure a seamless connection. If you specify the wrong floor or drainage then you’re more likely to see cracks occur in the flooring surrounding the drainage, possible elevation of floor plates or even flooring separation.

Correctly sloped floors
The floors should be angled to ensure waste water runs from the wall to floor and into the drainage. If the floors slope at the incorrect angle there is an increased risk of water pooling in the factory causing both hygiene and slip hazards.

The drainage needs to be compatible with the flooring to ensure a seamless connection, Canal Engineering’s sister company John Lord Flooring have been expertly installing high performance flooring to food factories across the UK for over 100 years.

A seamless, hygienic resin floor from John Lord offers exceptional performance, with systems to suit light to heavy traffic, wet and dry areas, laid flat or to falls and to various substrates.

Waterproof wall protection
The wall protection extends the hygienic performance of food production facilities. The superior water resistance can be achieved by redesigning the way the wall connects to the floor.

The most efficient way to create a robust waterproof drainage system is to lift the border between the wall and floor and to create fully hygienic, rounded corners.

The wall protection range is also suitable for providing all round protection against high volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Aspen Stainless are experts in the design, 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 across the food manufacturing industry for over 30 years.

If you have any further questions regarding our hygienic drainage solutions please email aspen@canalengineering.co.ul for further information.