As Urbanization puts more strain on existing water sources and bodies, Uganda Breweries is looking for ways to reduce the amount of water they use in their production processes. As such, Uganda Breweries Limited has today announced the launch of a Water Recovery Plant worth over 10 billion Uganda Shillings
Speaking at the launch of the recovery plant, the Uganda Breweries Managing Director Mr. Alvin Mbugua said that this plan is a Strategic investment to deliver Diageo 2020 Water targets of reducing water consumption by 50% vs the 2018 baseline when the brewery was using 4.9 litres of water per every litre of beer. “Uganda Breweries, a subsidiary of Diageo has adopted this ambitious goal to ensure that as a company, being mindful of the scarcity of water as a commodity frugally minimise the amount that we already use. We aim to achieve continuous improvement in environmental performance, concentrating our efforts on areas of greatest impact at our manufacturing and distribution points. Our company’s stringent environmental policy ensures that all our facilities are challenged to keep improving their performance in these areas.” he said
The Water recovery project offers treatment capacity of 1000 m3/d water from the Effluent Treatment Plant with ability to deliver 80% permeate recovery. The water is to be treated according to the UBL specifications for general purpose use.
At usage efficiency of 3.2L/L from the current 4.3L/L, the Effluent Water Recovery shall improve efficiency to 30% at minimum use and to 80% at maximum use clocking 2.6L of water per liter of beer by 2020.
Water Recovery is the process of converting wastewater into water that can be reused for other purposes. Reuse may include irrigation of gardens and agricultural fields or replenishing surface water and groundwater. At Uganda Breweries Limited, the recycled water will be used for general purpose cleaning of the plant.
In 2017, Uganda Breweries commissioned a shs20b Effluent Water Treatment plant to manage a production capacity of 800,000 hectoliters of water per year as one of the measures to safeguard Lake Victoria. The Effluent Plant uses water from the lake, recycles it, and returns it into the lake even cleaner than when it was taken out.
In 2016, Uganda Breweries was recognized for their waste management practices by the Water Policy Committee comprised of members from Ministry of Water and Environment, NEMA and NWSC, formed to advise the Minister of water and Environment on formulation of relevant water policies and laws resolving conflict of water usage.
