Challenge Hand in hand with plans to double brewery production, Foster's also had a major commitment to improving water usage efficiency, particularly wastewater generated in production processes.

Solution Foster's objective was total recycling of all recoverable wastewater at the Yatala site. To help acheive this, Osmoflo partnered with specialist company Environmental Group Limited (EGL) for implementation. In particular Osmoflo provided a membrane-based plant capable of dealing with wastewater from all parts of the site. Although pre-treatment processes include filtration and biological digestion, quality of feed water entering the RO plant can still be challenging. To ensure reliable and flexible operation under all likely conditions, Osmoflo provided a design including two seperate trains. The plant also features a high degree of automation and an in-built cleaning system. Osmoflo continues to provide on-going technical and service support so that the performance of the plant is optimised.

Result A doubling of production capacity has been acheived with only a 15% increase in water consumption. Discharges to sewers have also been reduced, leading to further savings and effluent quality is much improved. In terms of quality the treated water is of a higher grade than town water, however its use is restricted to applications such as boiler feed, wash down, cleaning and irrigation.

Charlie Foxall, Operations Support Manager

The Yatala Brewery is at the forefront of water recovery in the brewing industry. Their water conservation strategies save the company about $1.5 million per year. It supplies one quarter of all beer produced in Australia.