*translation of the scottish-gaelic word "Uisge Beatha" for whisky
Glenmorangie’s whiskys are enjoyed all over the world. But according to the creators, it can only be made in one place – the town of Tain in the North-East of Scotland. So, they decided to maintain this unique place for the generations to come. And Aquabio, a Freudenberg company, helped them to protect it. Now the by-products of the distillation are made into energy and fertilizer. Thus, the water used is filtered to 95% allowing the ecosystem in the sea to recover. Wastewater is becoming “the water of life” again.
The oysters are back, and the ecosystem is healing
Glenmorangie had an ambitious plan: to save the environment that does so much for them and their whisky.
They wanted to improve the water quality and biodiversity in the nearby sea by settling oyster banks, healing the ecosystem after decades of overfishing.
In 2017 they opened their cutting-edge filtration system. Aquabio provided the knowledge and technology to digest the distillery’s waste.
This way, the waste is turned to biogas, nutrient-rich fertilizer and 95% clean water.
The derived biogas cut the consumption of fossil fuels by 15%, the digestate is used to fertilize the region’s barley fields, which normally lacks copper.
The resulting water is brought back into nature. It is 95% clean and the oysters filter the remaining 5% while feeding.
One oyster filters up to 240 liters of water per day. This double-filtered water attracts other species to live and breed.
The by-products of the distillery are made to
- biogas to cut the company’s fossil fuel consumption by 15%
- a nutrient-rich fertilizer, rich in copper, to grow the region’s barley
- water that is 95% free of organic compounds
Modern technology meets tradition
Aquabio, a Freudenberg company developed the solution for Glenmorangie’s ambitious plans. They provided the anaerobic membrane bioreactor. A low energy solution that uses bacteria to digest the distillery’s waste into valuable fuel, fertilizer and then filter water to be given back to nature without any risk to the environment.
The system is modular and can easily be adapted by other industries to benefit from making waste into resources and saving the environment.