Dairy recycling saves water

A South West business has been recognised for almost halving its water usage by making some simple changes to its operations.

Brownes Brunswick Junction was named in the silver category in the Water Corporation’s Water Efficiency Management Plan program awards for improving water efficiency between 25 and 35 per cent in 2011-12.

Brownes Brunswick Junction engineer Andrew Bennett said the site had reduced water use from 2.6l of water per litre of milk to 1.4l, almost halving its usage.

He said the savings had been achieved mainly through small changes and recovering water from cleaning processes to be reused.

“Before, we used to do a rinse and that water would go down the drain — now we recover it to be used for the pre-rinse next time,” he said.

“We’re saving on water but we’re saving on chemicals too.”

Site manager Adrian Cream said the water savings had not impacted on the output of Brownes’ operation.

He said the Water Corporation recognition reflected a team effort to be aware of water usage.

Last week, Water Minister Terry Redman recognised more than 300 businesses across the State for saving a combined total of 7.9 billion litres during 2011-12.

“These businesses not only saved huge amounts of water, they have demonstrated their commitment to the environment and the sustainable use of water,” he said.