Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/489844
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER APRIL 15, 2015 23 practices and its associated costs, such as electricity needed to pump ground water and treatment of waste- water," he said. "We did water walks with our employees to look at all of our water practices." It was during the water walks that management noticed a lot of hoses running water because they didn't have nozzles on them. By working with employees, 122 new nozzles were purchased that were cheaper and more ergonomic, and employees preferred these over the old-style nozzles. "We began saving water in small steps fi rst," he said. Also, switching to 30-inch wide fl oor sweeps done with a pressure washer instead of an open hose resulted in an immediate reduction of water. "Throughout the campaign, we engaged our employ- ees and established a water saving culture within the company," said Nagel, who added that employees are encouraged to share water conservation suggestions, and many have come up with great ideas. "Water conservation is now part of our employee safety and training program." New practices Gallo began its water conservation campaign at a winery built in 1974. Because most older winery facil- ities were not designed for effi ciency, new technology and more effi cient practices that can improve winery processes at the crush pad and presses, bottling line, and such, can also improve overall winemaking and water effi ciency, Nagel said. For example, changes in how they sanitized three white grape presses now allows them to clean all three at one time and use the existing juice tanks as a reservoir for the cleaning. "We went from using 15,000 gallons to 3,000 gallons of water for cleaning the presses and reduced the time (from 24 to 8 hours) and chemicals it took to do it," he said. They learned that they didn't need to rinse wine bot- tles with water before bottling, but could instead use a blast of nitrogen. That step, though it took time for qual- ity assurance testing, saved a million gallons of water annually and reduced the water used in bottling by 97 percent, noted Nagel. By heating water more effi ciently through recircula- tion in a hot water tank (instead of running water through a hose while waiting for it to heat up), they were able to save 30,000 gallons of water a year and save in energy costs. Modification of their barrel sanitation practices resulted in barrel water savings of 50 percent, going from 400,000 gallons to 200,000, and by lowering the water temperature from 210°F to 140°F, they saved 33 percent in propane costs. Another change was installing covers on all winery drains to prevent berries and solids from clogging up underground holding or septic tanks. Solids can then be swept up instead of chased down a drain. Don't discount the little changes that can be made because together, they can make a big difference. "We've all seen employees chasing berries with a hose," he said. "Some employees will push that berry forever. We have to get rid of this kind of activity in our wineries, which is where changing a winery's culture comes in." • ONLINE To download a free pdf of the sustainable winery water and energy guide, go to: www.wineinstitute.org/ winerywaterguide "It takes an average of 80 gallons of water to process each ton of grapes. That's equal to about four gallons of water for every 750-ml bottle of wine." —John Nagel Online, at your service. The essential resource for the tree fruit and grape growing industries. goodfruit.com sign up for eFlash newsletter Scan the code with your smartphone or tablet or go to: goodfruit.com/ efl ash-signup