Jason Fox (1); (1) ClearCove, Inc., Victor, NY, U.S.A.

Sustainability
Poster

One of the greatest challenges facing brewers today is the treatment and disposal of their wastewater. Municipalities often impose surcharges based on the organics load a brewery discharges into the sewer, which can represent a significant financial burden. With the aging infrastructure and increasing impact on existing municipal WWTPs, it is likely these surcharges will continue and potentially increase. Conventional activated sludge treatment traditionally utilized is expensive, consumes a great deal of energy, and requires a high degree of operations and maintenance. Brewery wastewater has a wide pH range, changes in temperature and inconsistent organic loading. These factors often upset bug populations in activated sludge systems, thereby lowering the removal rates of the treatment system. To address this challenge, ClearCove has developed a game-changing patent-pending technology solution that removes the majority of organics from the wastewater prior to being discharged into the sewer or environment. This new technology significantly reduces or eliminates municipal sewer surcharges and removes enough organic material to meet EPA permit limits for environmental discharge. The ClearCove ClearCapture solution is a physical/chemical process that simply and reliably removes the majority of solids (TSS) and organics (BOD) from the wastewater without relying on bugs that can be easily disrupted. The ClearCapture: Pure solution can remove up to 95% of the BOD and 99.9% of the TSS, producing reuse quality water for non-potable applications, such as cleaning water or irrigation by utilizing state-of-the-art membrane technology. This presentation will cover an introduction to the technology, as well as performance results of pilot tests conducted at Genesee Brewing Co. and Three Brothers Wineries and Estates, one of the largest wineries in the Finger Lakes.

Jason Fox has 15 years of professional brewing experience, in addition to several years experience overseeing production in a medium-sized food manufacturing plant. He operated an aerobic treatment system while at the brewery and worked directly with the wastewater treatment plant operator at the food plant. He is now the technology solutions manager for food and beverage at ClearCove (www.ClearCoveSystems.com). ClearCove’s industry-leading, patented technology transforms the economics of brewery wastewater operations. Jason has spoken at MBAA conferences, as well as the Great Lakes Water Conservation conference on the topic of brewery wastewater treatment.