Brewery Waste Management is a vital subject for the brewing industry. With wastewater treatment and disposal with energy now accounting for approximately 8% of expenditures for UK breweries, brewers must choose between constricted margins, passing costs on to customers, or both.
Drink production in breweries, wineries, and distilleries presents special water and wastewater treatment issues. Water used for brewing must adhere to exacting standards for consistency, flavour, and product quality. The wastewater can be especially challenging to clean and properly dispose of since it contains a variety of chemical and organic substances as well as particulate materials like yeast and leftover grains.
So, welcome to my affiliate review for industriWASE, a revolutionary brewery waste management system that processes organic waste and wastewater.
What is WASE’s IndustriWASE Treatment Technology?
This advanced circular system is developed by Wase Limited, an innovative technology company that works towards a sustainable future.
With proven results as shown on their website, industriWASE generates energy from biogas produced from organic waste and wastewater, helping to reduce carbon footprint and operational costs. Additionally, the system makes clean non-potable water for reuse and a natural fertilizer that increases crop yields.
All that must be very welcome news to very many breweries.
Benefits of the IndustriWASE Treatment Technology
The main benefit of industriWASE for brewery waste management is its ability to maximize bioenergy production and water recovery. This system ensures optimal waste treatment capacity with a modular design, making it easy to fit into any facility. The system no doubt also reduces volumetric, and contaminant loading based, trade effluent charges levied for the disposal of brewing process effluent to public sewers.
Recycled Process Water
It produces clean water which can be re-used in brewery operations or returned to the environment. This reduces the amount of water a business takes from the environment, lowering their water consumption costs and improving any brewery's sustainability profile.
Reusing non-potable or “grey water” produced by industriWASE is beneficial to businesses as it reduces the cost of water bills and limits the amount of wastewater discharged into the environment.
Fertiliser Production
IndustriWASE’s circular approach to brewery waste treatment also produces a nutrient-rich biofertiliser.
This material can be used to improve soil quality on local agricultural lands, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. Not only are synthetic fertilizers non-renewable, but they also entail the production of a lot of carbon emissions for the mining of minerals, transport and processing.
It is fair to say that the natural fertilizer produced by the IndustriWASE brewery waste management system is an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic fertilizers, and can create an additional revenue stream when sold to local producers.
Ease of Use
With the intelligent Remote Operating System (ROS), IndustriWASE is described as being easily monitored and optimized for maximum performance, while reducing the time spent on maintenance tasks.
Energy Production
Finally, the biogas produced by the system is a very useful and money-saving attribute, although how much biogas is produced and in what form is used (e.g. raw biogas for heating, coupled to a generator for electric power, as biomethane for sale) was unclear to us when we visited their website.
How does industriWASE work?
The industriWASE brewery waste management system is designed to treat both organic waste and wastewater. It uses a combination of:
- anaerobic digestion,
- membrane bioreactors, and
- reverse osmosis technology
to break down waste and recover usable materials.
Firstly, the waste enters the anaerobic digester where microorganisms break down the organic material and produce biogas. This biogas can be utilized for energy production within the facility.
Next, the remaining substances pass through the membrane bioreactors where oxygen is supplied to the microorganisms to enhance their ability to break down waste products, and other nutrients, into clean water and enriched biofertilizers.
Finally, the resulting water is further purified using reverse osmosis technology to remove any remaining contaminants and provide a reusable end product.
How is this Sustainable?
Many people ask how industriWASE brewery waste management benefits the environment.
The answer is simple – the system reduces carbon footprint and limits the discharge of harmful wastewater into the environment.
This means cleaner rivers and reduces the loading on local sewage works, which in the UK lack investment from underperforming privatised water utility companies
What We Did Not Like
While industriWASE is described as a highly effective brewery waste management system for brewery waste management, it may require additional costs for maintenance and upgrading over time.
Some specialised parts of the process may be unique and may require employing WASE to carry out maintenance when the owner might prefer to seek economy by competitive tendering maintenance to a more local wastewater contracting company.
What We Do Like About IndustriWASE: “So Good for Breweries”?
Breweries generate large amounts of wastewater during the brewing process. Historically, this wastewater has been considered a liability, with breweries needing to pay to have it treated and discharged. However, with the industriWASE system, brewery wastewater can be transformed into a valuable resource. We doubt that the value of the products fully pays for the WASE system, but it should go a long way in that direction.
We like all the primary benefits of industriWASE for breweries which are stated to include:
- renewable energy production,
- water reuse, and
- fertilizer production.
Energy production from biogas should significantly reduce operational costs and carbon footprint at the very high prices being paid today for gas and electricity (Summer 2023).
Water re-use helps to:
- conserve valuable resources
- save on trade effluent charges
- and lower water consumption costs,
while fertilizer production reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and provides a sustainable material for improving soil quality.
IndustriWASE for Brewery Waste Management – Conclusion
The IndustriWASE system as described by WASE presents a valuable solution for breweries looking to transform their wastewater into a valuable resource.
With its modular design, the system should be readily customized to fit the specific needs of any size of the brewery business, maximizing energy production and water recovery while minimizing waste.
Nevertheless, it will be necessary for any potential buyer to assess maintenance costs, and longevity of elements which will be costly to replace, such as membranes within the Reverse Osmosis equipment.
By embracing this circular approach to waste management, breweries can significantly improve their sustainability profile while also improving their bottom line.
List of Other Companies Active in Brewery Wastewater Treatment
There are several companies that provide brewery wastewater treatment systems. Here are a few examples:
1. BioGill – They provide above-ground, non-submerged bioreactors for wastewater treatment. They use a special “gill” technology that creates an environment for microorganisms to thrive and break down waste.
2. Veolia Water Technologies – Veolia provides a range of water and wastewater treatment solutions, including systems for breweries. Their solutions include various methods of biological treatment, membrane filtration, and other techniques.
3. Evoqua Water Technologies +Xylem – Evoqua offers a variety of wastewater treatment solutions that can be customized to different industries, including brewing. It has recently merged with Xylem. Xylem is a major international water technology provider. Together they offer a variety of wastewater treatment solutions that can be used in breweries, including biological treatment systems, membranes, and more.
4. Aqwise – Wise Water Technologies – This company offers solutions for industrial wastewater treatment, including for breweries, with technology that involves a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR).
5. NVP Energy – Offers wastewater treatment solutions that can be used in breweries, including biological treatment systems, membranes, and more.
6. GEA Group – The GEA Group is a global technology company that provides solutions for a variety of industries, including food and beverages and brewing equipment. We did not see any brewery waste management system though. Check out their website, or contact them if interested.
7. Krones AG – This company offers complete brewery waste management systems for breweries, including water and wastewater treatment. They offer various technologies, from conventional to membrane bioreactors, via group company Steinecker GmbH.
Please note that the information can be outdated by the time you read this, and these companies' offerings might have changed since then. Also, not all of these companies' systems might be directly comparable to the WASE industriWASE system. For the most accurate and current information, you should directly contact these companies or visit their websites.
Microalgae treatment and air cathode microbial fuel cell treatment are also discussed as cost-effective and sustainable alternatives that reduce sludge formation and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
