Water Management

Water is an especially precious commodity in Australia, the driest continent on the planet. An extended, record breaking drought, changes to weather patterns attributed to climate change, a growing population and serious salinity issues and river degradation have made efficient water management mandatory.

Over the past six years, De Bortoli Wines has trialled and implemented a number of water saving and recycling initiatives in our vineyards. A huge success story both environmentally and economic ally has been the upgrade of the waste water treatment facility at our Bilbul winery in the Riverina.

In the early stages of the redesign of the waste water treatment facility, sodium was identified as a major environmental threat, contributing to serious salinity problems. The decision was made to eliminate all sodium based chemicals from our production and cleaning processes.. This decision had a huge impact because it meant that the majority of the winery’s waste water could now be used to irrigate grain and fodder crops grown on a neighbouring 65-hectare property. The crops are harvested and sold for profit helping move the Bilbul site towards the goal of being a Zero Waste Wine Company. Furthermore, a new low energy aerator used to treat waste water has reduced the amount of energy used by 90 per cent - equivalent to more than $200 000 per annum in electricity costs.

At our Yarra Valley winery, an aerobic biological water treatment plant allows us to recycle all our waste water streams from winery, restaurant and tourism facility for irrigation purposes.

 

The use of compost and mulch which helps retain soil moisture as well as adding nutrients has reduced water requirements by up to 50% This is equivalent to the annual water usage of 680 households. Composting and mulching is increasingly being used across all our our vineyard sites. Similarly the use of film technology (spreading a layer of hydrated lime over the surface of dams) assists in reducing the evaporation of water from our ‘on farm’ storage by nearly 30%.

At all our winery sites, there is a commitment to improving the stability of waterways near or through the properties with tree planting along these waterways to help improve and stabilise creek beds.

While many of these water saving initiatives have the happy side effect of saving money, the true drive for De Bortoli Wines is to manage water as efficiently as possible to allow us to keep producing great quality, sustainable wines for generations to come.