Pump solution helps tap into process water reuse

04 April 2022

Find out more about Carlsberg’s Total Water Management project and the important role that intelligent pump solutions have played in its success.

Water is an essential ingredient in the production of beer and most of it does not end up in the beer. At the Carlsberg facility in Fredericia, Denmark, for example around 60-65% of the total water usage is mainly process water for cleaning purposes – everything from equipment, floors and surfaces to pipes and tanks to bottle and can washers and more, including cooling towers and boiler plants.

In 2015 the Carlsberg Group was using 3.4 litres of water per litre of beer produced globally, according to Tenna Skov Thorsted, sustainability manager at Carlsberg Denmark. “Our ambition is to bring this figure down to below 1.7,” she said. This would reduce water consumption by 50% across Carlsberg Group by 2030. The Zero Water Waste initiative forms part of Carlsberg’s Together Towards Zero sustainability program, which calls for zero water waste by 2030, among other sustainability targets.

Through different, small water-saving projects, Carlsberg’s Fredericia plant had already brought its own water consumption down to 2.8 litres of water per one litre of beer. But to get to 1.7 litres or below, it needed a bigger initiative and in 2019 the decision was made to build a demonstration facility called the Total Water Management (TWM) plant which could then be replicated across other Carlsberg breweries – some which operate in water-scarce areas.

“The basic idea of the project is to take all the process water and send it to a wastewater treatment plant, and then clean that water afterwards in a safe, drinking water application to make sure that we can reuse the water again within the brewery,” explained Anders Kokholm, director at Carlsberg Denmark. “It will not be used as brewing water and will not go into the product. It will only be used for cleaning processes.”

Pumping solutions

Grundfos was brought into the project to provide efficient and durable pumping solutions in addition to technology to monitor and control the system.

The completed TWM plant will be able to treat 2,000 cubic meters of incoming process water every day, of which 90% – or 1,800m3 is recovered and recycled. The plant also produces biogas, which Carlsberg will use to heat its facilities, adding an extra layer of sustainability.

Anaerobic and aerobic biological treatment processes combined with MBR membrane filtration, remove most of the pollutants and solids in the wastewater. The treated water is then further filtered in a closed-circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) plant to remove dissolved salts in the water. Then the RO permeate water is re-mineralised, using calcium carbonate to reduce aggressiveness and ensure the water meets drinking water quality. The stabilised water than goes through a UV-light treatment. It also receives an injection of chlorine dioxide to remove bacterial risk as well as prevent potential biofilm build up in the distribution line.

Grundfos pumps help along every step of the process covering 95% of the pumps on site. The company also supplied complete dosing solutions –cabinets which include the dosing pumps, all the piping and the valves, along with flow control software.

The outcome

After its first half year in operation, the facility has been slowly working up to capacity. Kokholm explained: “We switched it on in early 2021 and started to fill up the plant gradually, getting the bacteria in the wastewater treatment plant used to our wastewater. It takes some time to build up enough sludge to handle the wastewater. So it’s a journey getting it up to full speed. We've seen a very positive effect in the total water-to-brewed beer ratio for the brewery. We are not quite at the target level yet, but we will get there in time.”