Why do your presses have continuous water usage as the press runs and can I not recycle it?

This is part two of a three part series of articles addressing questions, myths, and misconceptions in processing fruit with a belt press.

Read the first article here

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Q: My press doesn’t use water: Why do your presses have continuous water usage as the press runs and why can I not recycle it?   

Let’s start by talking about how much water our presses use:

Our Kreuzmayr KEB 400, KEB 500, KEB 750 and KEB 1000 Single Belt Presses use approximately 90 gallons/hour of potable water, our KEB 1250 and K2B 750 use approximately 180 gallons/hour, and our largest Double Belt Presses use 360 gallons/hour.

How is the water used?

Our presses spray high pressure water across the belt after the fruit mash has been scraped off to remove sediment and particulate. This stops the screen belt from plugging up and and keeps yields high.

If you haven’t yet, read the first part of our series here: Yields of a Belt Press here.

Fresh potable water is used in a Kreuzmayr press, keeping the pathogen count down. Using recycled water accumulates pathogens which can’t be removed through a simple filtration process. So the contaminated water would be sprayed onto the belt again and again, creating a pool of pathogens. Safety is of the utmost importance, that’s why we recommend to use fresh potable water!
Of course we offer recycling systems with high pressure pumps to reuse the water. This is used for businesses that have a very solid pre-wash procedure with parasitic acid and water rinse.

How important is it to you to keep your pathogen count down?

Quality control standards around food production may include a limited pathogen count. Pathogens are a food safety concern to processors of unpasteurized juices and ciders. According to The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA),

 “The consumption of unpasteurized juices and ciders contaminated with pathogenic organisms, such as Escherichia, Salmonella and Cryptosporidium have been known to cause human illness. The young, the elderly and those in poor health are considered to be at higher risk.” Check out our selection of pasteurizers here.

More information:

If you are looking for more information on juicing and the quality control standards that government regulatory bodies have in place, we have included a list of website resources that are centered around food safety and food guidelines:

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• US Dept of Agriculture on Food Safety

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency – The CFIA is responsible for enforcing the food safety policies and standards that Health Canada sets

• CFIA – Preventive controls for unpasteurized fruit juices and ciders (apple and other fruits)
  Causes of Contamination Reducing the Risk References Introduction “The consumption of unpasteurized juices and ciders contaminated with pathogenic organisms.”

• STUDY– 2016-2017 Bacterial Pathogens, Viruses and Parasites in Unpasteurized Juices and High Pressure Processed Juices in Canada and published by The Canadian Food Inspection Agency

• Health Canada – work with governments, industry and consumers to establish policies, regulations and standards related to the safety and nutritional quality of all food sold in Canada. Health Canada handles assessing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s activities related to food safety.

Read our first article about Yields of a Belt Press.