On a planet growing increasingly dry, where water demand is expected to exceed availability by 40% by 2030, the linear use of water is no longer a sustainable, ethical, or competitive option. The beverage industry, reliant on quality water at every stage of production, faces the challenge of transforming or falling behind in a new regulatory, reputational, and operational landscape. In this context, every liter reused represents more than savings: it is a declaration of leadership, innovation, and commitment to the future.
This project responds boldly to that urgency. Reusing the water from the bottle rinsing process, currently discarded as industrial waste, through an advanced physical, biological, and chemical-free disinfection system not only reduces freshwater consumption by over 30%, but also eliminates discharges, improves process traceability, and decreases the use of conventional chemical products. The change is significant: if replicated across all bottling lines in the country, more than 10 million m³ per year could be recovered, equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 people.
The Water Positive approach not only measures what is saved but also what is returned to the basin, with quality and purpose. That is why this project is structured under VWBA 2.0 method A-2, avoided consumption, and A-6, safe onsite reuse, with full traceability of the benefit and external validation. The quality of the treated water is monitored under WQBA parameters, ensuring its reuse is safe for both the process and consumers. This is not just about optimizing a process; it is about changing the paradigm of what we consider “usable water.”
These types of solutions are not only technically viable but strategically necessary. With emerging regulations, ESG investor pressure, and more conscious consumers, leading with water means leading on all fronts. This project demonstrates that it is possible to do so with environmental, reputational, and financial returns.
The beverage plant in question is located in a region with medium-to-high water stress and increasing pressure on groundwater sources. Currently, the water used for bottle rinsing, a critical step in ensuring container hygiene, is used only once before being sent to the treatment system or discarded, resulting in unnecessary resource consumption and a missed efficiency opportunity.
The intervention consists of capturing this post-rinse water, subjecting it to pre-filtration, fine filtration, UV disinfection, and inline quality control, and then reintegrating it into the same process or allocating it to secondary uses such as equipment washing or general services. The technology has already been validated at pilot scale with excellent results in microbiological, organoleptic, and physicochemical parameters, meeting food safety standards.
The impact is immediate: total plant water consumption is expected to decrease by 32%, with annual savings of more than 20,000 m³ in the target line. This is equivalent to the daily consumption of over 55,000 bottles of 1.5 liters of water. In addition, effluent volumes are reduced, treatment costs decrease, and the water footprint per unit produced is lowered, directly contributing to the company’s sustainability and competitiveness goals.
The solution is scalable, adaptable to other plants within the industrial group, and compatible with water sustainability certifications such as the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and VWBA 2.0. Companies in the beverage, food, and personal care sectors can adopt this model to strengthen operational resilience, reduce regulatory risks, and gain legitimacy with consumers and authorities.
Today more than ever, water reuse is not just an environmental matter, it is a strategic advantage. And this project demonstrates it with concrete, traceable results aligned with global water challenges.
The project deploys an advanced treatment system that transforms treated brewery effluent into high-quality water suitable for internal non-potable uses such as bottle washing. This is particularly relevant in the brewing context, where bottle washing is one of the most water-intensive steps in the production chain. Stringent hygiene and safety standards require a reliable supply of clean, safe, and high-quality water to prevent cross-contamination or impact on the final product.
In coastal locations such as the Barcelona metropolitan area—where freshwater sources are increasingly stressed and aquifer salinization is an escalating threat—reducing blue water abstraction becomes a strategic imperative. Regenerated water availability for non-potable tasks such as bottle washing not only optimizes resources but also helps prevent overexploitation of vulnerable hydrological systems. Replacing potable water for such uses improves urban and industrial water resilience.
Thanks to advanced regeneration, a significant portion of the treated water can be redirected to the returnable bottle washing circuit, closing a critical loop within the plant and significantly reducing dependence on external supply. The technological configuration includes combined biological treatment (anoxic-aerobic), membrane filtration (MBR), controlled disinfection, activated carbon filtration, and reverse osmosis. This sequence ensures the removal of both organic and inorganic contaminants, as well as microbiological quality suitable for sensitive industrial uses.
The entire system is designed for continuous operation, with online monitoring of critical parameters and full traceability, facilitating seamless integration into high-capacity brewery operations with strict hygiene controls. It meets both regulatory compliance requirements and the sector’s sustainability commitments.
The solution is structured around a robust technological train tailored to the particularities of brewery effluent, which has a high organic load and variable composition. The treatment train includes anoxic and aerobic bioreactors for the efficient breakdown of nitrogen compounds and complex organics. The water is then routed through a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, which combines biological treatment with advanced physical separation, ensuring high-quality effluent.
The water then undergoes disinfection in a sealed contact tank, followed by tertiary polishing using activated carbon filtration to remove trace organics and micropollutants. Finally, the process is completed with a reverse osmosis (RO) stage, ensuring A+ quality water compliant with Royal Decree 1085/2024—safe for sensitive applications such as returnable bottle washing.
The system includes a state-of-the-art automation architecture with integrated PLCs and SCADA, inline sensors for flow, conductivity, turbidity, residual chlorine, and microbiological parameters. This enables continuous operation with full traceability, ensuring not only compliance but also resilient and efficient water management. Moreover, the facility has been designed for modularity, enabling replication and scaling across other brewery plants in the group or the sector.
In the heart of Sant Andreu’s industrial landscape, this initiative redefines water stewardship in the brewing sector through the integration of an advanced internal reuse system. The project transforms brewery wastewater—from one of the most complex industrial effluents—into a safe and reliable resource, making water reuse a core component of the facility’s production logic and environmental responsibility.
Brewery operations generate effluents that are particularly rich in organic and nutrient content, as well as residual compounds from fermentation and cleaning. These characteristics pose challenges for conventional treatment plants, both in terms of technical performance and public health compliance. Recognizing this, the brewery adopted a tailored solution that integrates several treatment stages into a compact, high-efficiency system.
The solution’s strength lies in its multi-barrier approach: starting with biological treatment stages for organic and nitrogen compound removal, followed by advanced membrane separation, and then chemical polishing to eliminate trace substances and ensure hygienic quality. Each stage builds upon the previous to ensure consistency, safety, and regulatory compliance for the reclaimed water.
This regenerated water is reintegrated into the brewery’s operational cycle—most notably in the washing of returnable glass bottles, a process with stringent sanitary requirements and traditionally high water consumption. By doing so, the facility not only reduces pressure on local freshwater sources, but also strengthens its operational independence and contributes to broader water resilience strategies in the region.
The project also embeds real-time monitoring technologies and automated control systems to track water quality and optimize performance, creating a responsive and transparent reuse model. Designed for adaptability and long-term sustainability, the system is a model for other breweries and industrial users seeking to close the loop on water within their operations.
This intervention demonstrates how smart water reuse can be deployed in high-demand, high-sensitivity environments while meeting the expectations of circular economy principles, climate resilience, and forward-looking environmental regulation.
