Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/744999
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m N o v - D e c 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 6 9 health and safety standards when it comes to wastewater treatment, so they tend to play it safe by con- tinuing to use those high levels of oxygen throughout the year. But that excess oxygen means the sys- tem ends up using extra electrical power to do its job. The easiest fix is to install an automated system that reads the level of dissolved oxygen in the wastewater. L a r g e r w i n e r i e s c a n b e n e f i t from investing in an anaerobic d i g e s t e r s y s t e m . Wa s t e w a t e r treatment systems typically use oxygen to break down waste prod- ucts. The oxygen is supplied by aeration equipment, which use a lot of electricity. Anaerobic treat- ment processes don't use oxy- gen, meaning less energy is used. According to BASE, implementing this measure could mean up to a 98% electrical energy savings for that part of the wastewater treat- ment system. F e t z e r V i n e y a r d s r e c e n t l y installed a BioFiltro BIDA Water Fil- tration System, which uses worms a n d m i c r o b e s t o t r e a t w i n e r y wastewater. "We'll have millions of red worms eating away at the contaminants," says Josh Prigge, director of regenerative develop- ment at Fetzer. "The new system should reduce energy consumption by about 85%. It's pretty cool to be using nature to aid our sustainabil- ity goals." Start working on your own list of energy conservation projects today and, as the new year unfolds, not only will you be saving on your utili- ty bills, you'll also be creating a bet- ter, more sustainable world. M.V Wood is a freelance writer based in Sonoma County. You can reach her at sokosea@gmail.com Comments? Please e-mail us at feed- back@vwmmedia.com. Josh Prigge of Fetzer Vineyards says the company's new BioFiltro BIDA Water Filtration System should reduce energy consumption by 85%. [Photo by George Rose] - —— - - - - - - - -