Challenge Following a successful relationship at their old Leabrook site, Osmoflo supplied Coopers with a 1.5 MLD reverse osmosis (RO) plant in 2001 for their new Regency Park facility. Treating bore water on site for process use, the plant was expanded in 2007, with capacity increased to 3 MLD to facilitate increasing production requirements at the site. The brewery’s water needs have continued to grow, and in early 2017, malting facilities were proposed as well as further increases in beer production due to business growth. This created the demand for increased water consumption and the expansion of their existing water treatment plant once again.

Solution Under a new 10 year Build Own Operate (BOO) contract, this project involved the refurbishment of the existing water treatment plant, as well as provision of an additional RO train, increasing the total treatment capacity of the plant to 4.5 MLD.  Following pre-treatment to remove suspended solids  the reverse osmosis plant reduces the salinity of ground water from around 6,000mg/L TDS to <100 mg/L. 

Result Our team was able to refurbish and install the upgraded plant without impact on Coopers’ production, and without the need to purchase additional mains water. This was achieved through minimising operational downtime and completing much of the works over quieter production periods, such as weekends. Coopers are achieving significant net savings by using ground water instead of mains water, and the contract extension shows trust in Osmoflo to continue providing for their water treatment requirements well into the future. It is also a testament to our team who continue to nurture this relationship, which will span three decades at the end of the renewed contract term.

Coopers Brewery project video (produced prior to December 2017 expansion).

Coopers Brewery Limited is the largest Australian-owned brewery, based in South Australia, brewing beer for over 150 years.