The Sleeman Brewery in Guelph, Ontario is saving about 298,000 litres, or over 5,000 kegs worth of water every day, thanks to the results of a Water Smart Business audit from the City of Guelph.
“Our community understands the importance of using water wisely,” said Steven Snopkowski, Water Smart Business program coordinator at the City of Guelph. “It’s great to see local businesses, like Sleeman Breweries, playing their part in being water efficient. Sleeman has shown great leadership that’s a real win-win situation for our whole community.”
Through the Water Smart Business program, Sleeman Breweries identified key areas of its operations where it could reduce water use at its Guelph brewery. One of the key areas was pasteurization.
Pasteurization uses hot water to kill bacteria and stop the growth of yeast in beer after packaging to improve shelf life and freshness. Wear and tear of old pasteurizers can cause temperature fluctuations, meaning more water and energy used in the process.
Replacement of the bottle line pasteurizer cost Sleeman just over $2 million. In return, Sleeman received a one-time financial incentive of $89,682 from the City of Guelph, based on annual water saved through the Water Smart Business program.
“As the third largest brewer in Canada, we brew about 120,000,000 litres of beer annually in Guelph and water plays a huge part in the brewing process,” said Kyle Kelly, continuous improvement manager at Sleeman Breweries. “We owe it to our community to brew responsibly, and part of that is reducing our environmental impact. Through the Water Smart Business program and guidance from the City, we were able to do exactly that while also saving our business money.”
The Water Smart Business program is one of the City of Guelph’s Water Efficiency Strategy Programs. It offers financial incentives to Guelph businesses that complete a detailed water audit and capital retrofits that permanently reduce water demand.
