In-house water supply for major Polish dairy cooperative

Mlekpol Dairy Cooperative is one of the largest manufacturers of milk and dairy products in Europe. They have 13 modern and highly specialized processing plants located in Poland.

All Mlekpol’s plants meet the highest standards, and as the dairy's production facilities have been modernized over the years, the focus has been on getting future-proof in-house water treatment solution installed. With this, they ensure the required water quality and a reliable and continuous water supply without fear of interruptions in production due to problems with external water source issues.

In 2014, Mlekpol chose EUROWATER, known for its high-quality plants, to design, manufacture, install, and commission their first modernized water treatment solution. Since then, more of Mlekpol’s production sites have followed, and as of now, they operate four, soon to be five, production plants equipped with future-proof water treatment:

2014: Kolno (90 m³/h)
2016: Grajewo (230 m³/h)
2018: Suwałki (90 m³/h)
2022: Mrągowo (230 m³/h)
2024: Zambrów (80 m³/h)

Water supply solution of 230 m³/h

In the city of Mrągowo, in the northeastern part of Poland, the second largest of Mlekpol’s dairy production plants is placed.

In 2022, their new water treatment solution with a capacity of 230 m³/h was put into operation. The existing water treatment plant was insufficient to supply the amount of process water needed for a new milk powder plant with a planned capacity of three million liters of milk and whey per day.

Water treatment solution at the Mrągowo plant consisting of two aerators and eight pressure filters with a diameter of 3000 mm and a total height of 3800 mm.

The water source is groundwater, containing several natural salts and organic substances, particles, and gasses. If not treated correctly, it can result in bad taste, color, bacteria in the water and corrosion in pipes and installations among other things.

Before the groundwater can be used by the dairy, the water undergoes the following treatment:

• Aeration: The aerator serves several purposes. It removes unwanted gasses while also providing oxygen to the water so that the filtration will work.
• Pressure filtration in two steps: First filtration step is iron removal, and the second step is manganese removal. The filter media in each step has been designed specifically for the job.

The treated water goes to two external storage tanks, each with a capacity of 400 m³. The water is then distributed to the different production zones by two booster systems based on Grundfos CR pumps.

The solution also includes a softening unit for the process water, which is used, among other things, for centrifugal pumps and as pre-treatment in the boiler room.

Water supply solution of 80 m³/h

At Mlekpol’s production plant in Zambrów, also in the northeastern part of Poland, a water treatment solution by EUROWATER was installed in spring 2024. The solution is almost identical to the one in Mrągowo.

The water source is also groundwater, the treatment steps are the same, but the production capacity is 80 m³/h -almost a third of the capacity in Mrągowo.