Water management of Plzeňský Prazdroj

Water management of Plzeňský Prazdroj

Water consumption [hl/hl of beer] 2

Pilsner Urquell Beer Phenomenon Back on October 5 th 1842 Josef Groll combined the Bavarian method of bottom fermentation with local unique ingredients, usually referred to as "genius loci", i.e. very soft water, malt produced in its own malthouse, and Žatec hops, which is considered as the best in the world. In the new technologically advanced brewery he created the first golden sparkly clear beer in the world, whose name "pils" or "pilsner" is called bottom-fermented lager all over the world. 3

Water and beer Water next to malt, hops and yeast is one of the most important components of beer and constitutes 92 % of the beer volume. The most suitable water for cooking light Czech beers is a soft water with constant hardness not changing by boiling. Water for beer production should not contain chlorine, iron and manganese, and it should be physically clean, free of the smell and taste, clear and it should meet all drinking water requirements.. 4

History of water management of Plzeňský Prazdoj A good quality of water is a condition for the successful operation of breweries in the whole world. That is why breweries are usually found near the rich water resource areas and Pilsen is not an exception. The confluence of four rivers and large underground reservoirs form the unique water riches of the Pilsen Basin.. River water was used for the production of beer from 1842 (the establishment of the brewery) until 1878. Since 1878, water was taken from the waterworks Homolka. In the beginning of the 20th century the interest in Pilsen beer has increased and that is why a directorship of brewery decided to build own water management. 5

Water management building The project was assigned to František Spalka. At the meeting on November 13, 1901 he had devised an interim solution and immediately he and his team started to work on final conception of water and energy supply. After an extensive study tour over Europe František Spalka designed: river waterworks well waterworks (pumping station including drill holes) water tower water deferrisation unit power plants The construction work was carried out by Eduard Kroh (power plant, water tower, river waterworks, water deferrisation unit) and Josef Špalek (well waterworks). On October 15, 1907, water from Roudná was first time led from the tower to the brewery, and the waterworks for river water treatment was powered by a new power plant. The following day the river water was flowing from the tank located inside the tower into the pipe. 6

WATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES River waterworks River waterworks was built at the lower part of the brewery area at the confluence of the Mže and Radbuza rivers. It was used to treat river water by sand filtration. The water from the river waterworks was pumped into the lower tank of the water tower and then distributed to the whole brewery. The water was mainly used for cooling. In 2005 river waterworks operation was finished while in 2008 it was renovated and today it serves as a cooper s workroom. 7

WATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES Water deferrisation unit The water deferrisation unit served for the treatment (deferrisation) raw groundwater. The iron concentration of raw groundwater ranges from 6 to 8 mg/l. The deferrisation proceeded by atmospheric oxidation on the brick lining. Treated water was pumped to the upper tank in the water tower and then distributed to the whole brewery. The water deferrisation unit was closed in 2001. About its further use it has not been decided yet.. 8

WATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES Water tower As a place for the construction, the highest point of the brewery area was chosen. The highest point of the brewery area was the site of Jan Sladký Kozina (Czech national hero) execution. The construction of the water tower began in 1901 and it was completed in 1907. The height of the tower is 45 m. Two riveted tanks - larger with a volume of 5530 hl and a smaller volume of 2540 hl are in the upper part of tower. The water tower was in operation until 2005. Its function was taken over by newly built water tanks. In 2008 the water tower was declared as a cultural monument. 9

WATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES Well waterworks (pumping station, drill holes) In 1905, the first drill hole (HV-1) for groundwater extraction together with the pumping station was built in Pilsen, Roudná. The pumping station was set into operation at the same time as the water tower in whose upper reservoir the defferisated underground water was pumped. The underground water was originally used mainly for malting due to yearlong constant temperature around 11 C so that a suitable temperature of the soaking water for germination of barley was guaranteed also during the summer. 10

Use of groundwater in Plzeňský Prazdroj In the following years until 2001 further drill holes were built up. In 2001, the drill hole HV2A was sinked to achieve the current state where there are a total of 5 underground drill holes with a total yield of max. 59 l/s see the Table. Groundwater is used to produce malt, after treatment also to produce Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus beer. Indication of drill hole HV-1 HV-2A HV-3 HV-4A HV-5 Year of excavation 1905 2001 1959 1993 1988 Depth [m] 83,5 80,5 85,2 100 102,5 Allowed consumption [l/s] Type of drill bit Drill bit profile 14 14 13 9 9 cupreous threaded casing stainless slotted casing + Johnson filters 440/400 mm 250 mm steel slotted casing plywood 406 mm + 311 mm PE slotted casing 315 mm + 225 mm slotted casing 426 mm + 225 mm 11

Waterworks of Pilsen brewery The groundwater treatment plant replacing the original water deferrisation unit was built at the end of the 1980s together with a new malthouse. Since 2001 there has been a further modernization of the water treatment plant focused on the possibility of groundwater treatment for beer production. The advantage of own underground water source is its unchanging quality compared to the surface water. The main problem of using of groundwater for the brewing the beer is its high hardness. The natural hardness of groundwater is reduced by membrane technology reverse osmosis therefore a produced water meets the requirements for brewing of beer Pilsner Urquell. 12

GROUNDWATER TREATMENT Iron and manganese removal technology Pumping from spring area Aeration Flocculation and sedimentation Sand filtration Raw well water Fe total = 6,2-10,2 mg/l Mn total = 0,7-0,9 mg/l Water after defferisation Fe total < 0,03 mg/l Mn total < 0,005 mg/l Accumulation 13

GROUNDWATER TREATMENT Production of water for beer brewing from groundwater Removal of CO 2 Reverse osmosis Water after defferisation Accumulation of water for beer brewing Accumulation of concentrate 14

The quality of groundwater and water for beer brewing The advantage of using groundwater is its almost constant quality. Therefore, it is possible to keep the parameters of the brew beer water without significant deviations throughout the year. Brewers of today are carefully observing historical parameters for brewing water from Pilsen brewery archives. Water quality is inspected not only by regular analyzes in the accredited laboratory of Vodárny Plzeň a.s., but also by on-line monitored parameters such as ph, total conductivity, and free chlorine concentration. In addition to this instrumental control, biomonitoring of produced water using throut (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is also introduced. This fish is used to monitor both immediate toxicity and long-term water pollution. Selected quality indicators of water for beer brewing: Parameter Unit Value Ammonium [mg/l] <0.05 Nitrates [mg/l] <1.00 Magnesium [mg/l] 10 13 Manganese [mg/l] < 0.001 ph - 6.0 6.6 Sulphates [mg/l] 55 65 Total hardness [mmol/l] 1.1 1.4 Calcium [mg/l] 25 30 Turbidity ZF (NTU) < 1.00 Iron [mg/l] < 0.01 15

Technologic water Water supplied to the water tank F by Plzeňská teplárenská a.s. is used as a technologic and a service water. Water is further led to two automatic pressure stations. The first one is consisting from 6 pumps and leads water by central piping into the brewery area. The second consisting of 3 pumps of fire fighting water Grundfos (2 x 64 m 3 /hod a 1 x 90 m 3 /hod) and 2 air receivers (volume 2 x 6,3 m 3, press 5 barr) and leads water to follow places: Cooling, air station Gambrinus Intake of CO 2 Fire fighting water for underground hydrants Fire fighting water for malthouse Production of warm service water at power plant Plzeňský Prazdroj

Technologic water Norit Plzeňská teplárenská Waterworks ELNA Water tanks E a F V = 2 x 650 m 3 Capacity max 55 l/s (200 m 3 /hod) F E Pumping station capacity 380 m 3 /hod pipe DN 250 Central bottling facility Simonazzi bottling line KEG (returnable barrels) 17

Waste water The sewerage of Pilsen brewery is used as a drainage of wastewaters and a part of rainwater into the municipal wastewater treatment plant. A Pilsen brewery does not operate wastewater treatment plant. The sewerage consists from four main sewers B, D, E, C. The outlets are fitted with invoicing measuring instrument for billing of sewerage charge. ph probes located at the B, D and E outlets are used for monitoring of discharged wastewaters. If the ph value is outside the allowed limits, the employee of water treatment is informed by the alarm and subsequently solves the situation. A part of the rainwaters (passed through oil trap) and excess concentrate from the reverse osmosis are discharged into the river Berounka.

Neutralization of wastewaters A part of the wastewaters is neutralized with gaseous CO 2 in neutralizing tanks. If the ph riches required values, the liquid is discharged into the sewerage. If the ph is outside of required range, circulating pump is put into the operation and gaseous CO 2 is dosed into circulation bypass to reach required ph value. Ventilation Wastewater Circulation Dosage of CO 2 Filtation of CO2 Discharge into the sewers

Neutralization of wastewaters Acids are also used for the neutralization of wastewaters. For example sulfuric acid is used for the neutralization of hydroxide for returned bottles in botlling facility. In contrast to CO2 solutions, the disadvantage of acids application is primarily in handling with IBC containers.

Hydrostatic screen Malthouse Waste water Rainwater Berounka river Brewhouse PU Central bottling facility CKT GA Brewhouse GA KEG (returnable barrels) CKT PU NORIT + BBT+ filtration + Simonazzi bottling line Run out B Run out E Run out D WWTP Pilsen GA = Gambrinus, PU = Pilsner 21 Urquell, CKT = cylindrical-conical tank for fermentation, BBT = overpressure tank