Here, construction of a dairy processing room for 500 liters of milk will be discussed. First of all, site for the building is selected. Water availability and quality, milk catchment supply area, land availability, drainage, proximity to other buildings and road and effluent disposal are the key points to be considered before selecting a site for dairy processing building. In the coming paragraphs, I will discuss all of these major factors in detail.
Water is the most important of the factors narrated above. It serves many functions in a dairy setting. Washing, indirect heating and cooling of milk and adjusting the product composition are a few processes which are either not possible or so easy to perform without the availability of good quality water. Water comes into direct contact with the product. It is important therefore, to locate the dairy building where plenty of water is available. If water is not available in appreciable amount then different methods can be used to collect water, for example collecting rain water over the roof of dairy processing building by putting guttering around the roof and directing the water collected to the storage tanks.
Land selection requires that the area on which the building is to be constructed should not be shallow as it may get filled with water when it rains. Also, possible future expansions to the building should be kept in mind before selecting the land for the building.
Relation to the other buildings in vicinity is also to be kept in mind. Some buildings like animal feed store and hay barn may contain fungal spores and can become a constant source of contamination for the dairy products being processed. It should be located away from such sources of contamination and bad odor places like cattle assemblies and dung heaps.
The building should be close to a road so that the receiving of milk and distribution of products is easy. But as it may lead to dust contamination by the traffic therefore avoid installing the windows which face the road for the purpose of ventilation. Windows for the purpose of light entry are acceptable at this side.
Disposal of effluent is also important. Such effluent comes from washing and spillage and it can be controlled by careful processing of the product.
For processing of 500 liters milk, a floor area of 25 square meter is adequate. An additional 10 square meter area can be allocated for office and product storage.
The floor should be constructed using cement and concrete. Wood can also be used for this purpose if it is properly treated to protect it from termites and water. Availability and cost of the material will decide which material to be used. Floor should have a slope of 1-1.5% at one side to allow easy drainage. Cement should continue up the internal walls up to height of 1 meter if the walls are not made of concrete. An outlet should be provided to drain the floor. This outlet receives the effluent and drain it to the soak pit by passing through concrete pipes of 10 cm in diameter.
For operating the dairy operation, 3.5 square meter area should be provided for the windows. It helps save the consumption of artificial light.
Main door should be wide enough to allow for equipment installation and easy entry of the working personnel.
Arrangement of material inside the building should be that it allow hygienic and safe product processing. Flow of material from raw form to the final product should follow the sequence. Disposal of by-product should be assured.
Some equipment should be fixed securely. Cream separator should be installed at an optimum height so that working is made easy. Churn stand and butter-working table should be fixed firmly to the wall. Electric wiring should be carried out by qualified personnel.
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