Anaerobic ponds play an important role in the treatment of meat processing wastewater. Their key function is to reduce the level of organic contaminants such as Biological Oxygen Demand over five days (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and to a lesser extent oil and grease. They have little effect on nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) and pathogen numbers.

Anaerobic ponds contain a complex mix of bacteria that breakdown organic substances in the wastewater from meat processing plants.