Looking Toward Water-Smart Cleaning and Sanitation
Food and beverage plants are notoriously wasteful of water, and while the overarching call is to reduce water usage, cleaning/sanitation operations is a good place to start.
If a food and beverage processor is building a new facility, the producer may have the option of locating a plant in an environment that makes it easier to maintain, clean and sanitize. For example, build a facility that produces dry products in a less humid and wet climate where availability of water for cleaning and sanitation is sufficient — but not critical. On the other hand, processes that use a lot of water for cleaning and sanitation should be located in areas where the water table is not an issue. But too much water and moisture in some geographical areas can be a problem for making any product.
Humidity should be considered with respect to building and doing so in a suitable manner, says Angela Anandappa, Ph.D., founding executive director, Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, food microbiologist, lean manufacturing and sustainability practitioner. "From Southeast Texas to South Carolina and the Midwest around the Great Lakes are common geographical areas in which high humidity can prevail, especially in the summer months and through hurricane season. As we look to reduce water use it is also important to build in the systems to eliminate water altogether in dry facilities like those that produce low moisture product and candies."