Brewers Association Releases New Guidance on Wastewater Management

Link to article BA Wastewater Management Guidance Manual 2016
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The Brewers Association (BA) has released a new resource, Wastewater Management Guidance Manual. Since publishing Water and Wastewater: Treatment/Volume Reduction Manual, there has been significant regulatory and brewery activity regarding wastewater treatment. The continued rapid growth of craft brewing in the United States has stimulated concern from local municipal sewer districts as they begin to accept and treat increasing levels of brewery wastewater.

The vast majority of craft brewers are currently discharging wastewater to a municipal wastewater system for proper treatment and discharge to a river, stream or lake. Most municipalities have ordinances with general and specific prohibitions on what can be discharged to their piping and treatment infrastructure. It is important for craft brewers to understand the specific requirements of their local municipal system to avoid discharging wastewater that could cause a municipality to violate their environmental permits or to adversely affect municipal employee health and safety or the environment.

To address these concerns, this new manual is a more advanced look at craft brewery wastewater management and provides information that can help develop an effective partnership with local wastewater treatment facilities. It also draws on data compiled by BA Sustainability Mentor John Stier, and the data collected for the 2015 Sustainability Benchmarking Report.