Coffee Pulping
A variable settling tank is employed for the entire de pulping operation. The water holding capacity of the tank is of six thousand liters. Six thousand cubic liters of water are employed and recycled for three consecutive days in a closed recirculation system. At the end of the third day, water is replaced with clean fresh water, and wastewater is transported to clarification tanks for treatment. In the clarification tank, solids are separated from the water. A total of 498,000 liters of water were employed for the entire de pulping process for crop 2005-2006.
The water employed for the process of de-pulping is used for three consecutive days in a closed recirculation system. After the third day, water is conveyed to a clarification tank, where solids are separated from the water. In addition, a mixture of clean water and Horcalsa lime as well as enzymes is injected to reduce the amount of bacteria and pectin present in the wastewater.
The dosage is as follows: One liter of mixture was employed for every five liters of wastewater. Such mixture consists of one liter of clean water, two and a half grams of lime and 3 grams of enzymes. After the mixture has been injected, the water remains still in a clarification tank for a total of 6 days. After the sixth day, water is slowly conveyed to an absorption tank by a subtle manipulation with 1-inch boards, which are slowly lifted to let small amounts of water leave. Once all the water has been extracted, all that is left in the clarification tank is sediment. This sediment is scraped with shovels, and incorporated into the coffee pulp. Once the wastewater is deposited in the absorption tanks, it slowly filters through the veins of the land, by lixiviation and evaporation.
There are a total of six absorption tanks, each with a capacity of holding six thousand liters of wastewater. Each absorption tank has a period of time of forty two days to evaporate and/or lixiviate the wastewater. On the forty third day another load of six thousand liters will be poured into the absorption tank. In addition, if necessary, water may be conveyed in water pipes and employed for irrigation of coffee nurseries, landsc1aping or coffee pulp used to feed the earthworms. Such water enriches the earthworm feed, by incorporating a vast array of beneficial bacteria.