1. BREWERY WASTE WATER RECYCLING A CASE STUDY
World Brewing Congress
Portland, Oregon, USA
July 28-August
Michael Eumann
EUWA Water Treatment Plants 1

2. Agenda Sustainability targets Water consumption figures
Potential users for recycled water
Target values for recycled water ( service water)
Case Study Design Information
Flow Diagram
Performance data
Summary
Outlook

3. Sustainability Targets: Water
1. ABInBev:
Cut water consumption by 30 % by 2012 from 2007
Latest number 2011: hl/hl,
 Target 3.5 hl/hl.
(ABInBev Press Release, )
2. SABMiller:
Cut water consumption by 25 % by 2015 from 2008,
Latest number 2011: 4.0 hl/hl,
 Target 3.5 hl/hl.
(SABMiller Position Paper – Water, March 2009)
3. Heineken:
Cut water consumption by at least 25 % by 2020 from 2008,
Latest number 2011: 4.3 hl/hl,
 Target 3.7 hl/hl.
(Heineken press release and Heineken Sustainability Report 2009)

4. Water Consumption Figures
(l/hl beer)
Measures
Standard practice
500
Good practice
375
Optimisation
Good practice with waste water recycling
300
Reuse of water limited
Best practice with waste water recycling
200x1-225
Reuse of water including rinse waters
x1: Figure published at VLB-convention March 2010

5. Water Consumption Figures:
Water treatment
Else
Boiler feed water
Brewhouse (without CIP)
CIP (total)
Dilution water
Filling (without CIP)
Filtration (without CIP)
Fermentation and maturation
(without CIP)
All values given in l/hl; In total: approx. 375 l/hl.

6. Potential users for recycled water
I.: No direct or indirect product contact
Full bottle and can rinsing,
Crate washing,
CO2-Recovery (washing),
Vacuum pumps,
Make-up water, e.g. for cleaning and disinfection,
Boiler feed water,
Condensers and cooling towers,
Administration,
Fire fighting,
Irrigation.
 Total amount: approx. 75 l/hl.

7. Potential users for recycled water
II.: No direct product contact (but final rinse allowed), additionally
CIP final rinse water,
Bottle washer,
Bottle and can rinser.
Total amount: approx. 175 l/hl.

8. Potential users for recycled water
III.: Feeding back into the raw water inlet:
Limitation only by the max. yield of the waste water recovery plant.
Water treatment
Brewery
Waste water treatment
Waste water recycling
River, lake
Well,
Municipal water supply,
Surface water

9. Service water For CIP, packaging and cooling towers:
Needs to meet drinking water standards (WHO or company specifications).
Special attention to:
Total hardness ( precipitation),
Chloride level ( stainless steel corrosion),
pH-value (for mild steel piping, reservoirs, valves),
Microbiology. 9 9

10. Case Study – Design Information
Brewery South America: Design capacity 8 Mio hl/y
Water scarce area, original water consumption 3.7 hl/hl
Existing waste water treatment plant consisting of anaerobic and aerobic treatment, clarifier 10 10

11. Case Study – Design Information
Waste water recycling plant capacity 125 m³/h
Main components
Ultrafiltration
Reverse osmosis
Disinfection 11 11

12. Design Information 1. Removal of particles and microorganisms
 Microfiltration, ultrafiltration
2. Demineralisation
 Reverse osmosis (RO)
3. Disinfection
 Chlorination

13. 1. Removal of particles and microorganisms
Particles, turbidity and microorganisms ( activated sludge) have to be removed.
Typically achieved by membrane technology (microfiltration (MF) or ultrafiltration (UF)).

14. 2. Demineralisation
Demineralisation necessary for most service water applications to remove
Total hardness and m-alkalinity,
Chloride,
Total dissolved solids (TDS).
Demineralisation may not be necessary for all applications (irrigation).

15. 3. Final disinfection NaOCl is used for disinfection
Economic solution in terms of investment and operation costs
Potential byproducts not critical as there is no product contact
ClO2 as an alternative if byproducts are critical

16. WASTEWATER RECYCLING FLOW DIAGRAM
WASTE WATER TANK
REVERSE OSMOSIS
Reclaimed water to consumers
Disinfection
INTERMEDIATE WATER TANK
RECLAIMED WATER TANK
Chemical dosing
Cleaning chemicals
ULTRAFILTRATION
Boiler feed water

17. 125m3/h, South America, 8 million hl/a brewery

19. Treated water quality Parameters WWTP effluent Recycled water pH TH CaMg
HCO3 Cl
SO4
TDS
odH
mg/l
mg/l CaCO3
8.05 28 88 15
1244
351
17.3
2281
6.5
n.d. 86 21 92 19

20. Efficiency Water recovery rates: UF: > 90 %, RO: up to 70 %,
 overall yield > 60 %.
Mainly RO determines the efficiency of the recycling plant, depending on
SiO2,
PO43-,
m-Alkalinity,
Organics.

21. Operating Cost UF Cleaning Chemicals 0.6 cents/m³ treated water
RO Conditioning Chemicals cents/m³ treated water
Treated Water Conditioning Chemicals cents/m³ treated water
Power consumption cents/m³ treated water
Total cents/m³ treated water

22. Impact on Waste Water Composition
Increase in concentration of e.g.
COD,
PO43-,
TDS.
 Legal limits to be considered.

23. Summary and outlook
Brewery waste water recycling is the only way to reduce the overall water consumption in order to achieve sustainability targets in future.
Drinking water standards can be reached without problems.
Recycled water users have to be determined prior to the run up phase of the project.

24. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION