Water recycling and reuse in soft drink/beverage industry: A case study for sustainable industrial water management in Turkey

• Water recycling and reuse practices were realized in soft drink/beverage industry.
• Cooling water demand of the company was reduced from 14.4 to 1.2 m3/m3 product.
• Specific wastewater generation of the company was reduced by 57.4%.
• Issues in wastewater treatment plant in the organized industrial zone were resolved.
• Payback period of the implementations was approximately 7 months.

The aim of this study was to investigate water conservation and reuse opportunities in a soft drink/beverage manufacturing company. Water use analysis and benchmarking were carried out to determine the areas and processes where significant water saving potential is present. Based on evaluations, water recycling and reuse practices were realized in cooling systems. As a result of applying these practices, the total specific cooling water demand of the company was reduced from 14.4 to 1.2 m3/m3 product or by 91.8%. Moreover, the total specific water intensity of the company was decreased 55.0%. Thus, the achieved total annual water saving was 503,893 m3. After applications, specific wastewater generation of the company was reduced by 57.4% and hydraulic overload issues in wastewater treatment plant of Kayseri organized industrial zone were resolved. During the implementation of water saving measures/techniques 56,960 $ was spent for equipments. Annual cost saving of the company were 97,000 $. So, the payback period of the implementations was approximately 7 months. This study proved that water recycling and reuse can successfully be implemented in soft drink/beverage industry as a sustainable industrial water management approach. If successfully replicated in other manufacturing sectors besides soft drink/beverage sector, outcomes of this study can be a solution for excessive cooling water consumption in Turkey as well as other parts of the world where similar processes are employed.