Water is a precious resource and vitally important to us because it is one of the main raw materials we use to make beer. Water is also used to keep our breweries and equipment hygienically clean.

Over the past few years, dam levels across much of Australia have dropped to alarming levels as we experience one of the worst droughts on record and water restrictions are imposed across the country.

Lion Nathan has had an ongoing focus on water conservation for over a decade however the drought that’s struck much of Australia over the past few years has made us more aware than ever of the need to keep improving our water management practices.

Our breweries and wineries have all put programs and initiatives in place to reduce and improve the efficiency of water usage. By reducing the amount of water we use we also reduce the amount of waste water generated and the environmental impacts associated with the treatment and discharge of this water.

In New South Wales Tooheys partakes in Sydney Water’s ‘Every Drop Counts’ business program and the NSW Government DEUS Water Efficiency Program and in Queensland, Castlemaine Perkins takes part in the Brisbane Water Authority’s ‘Water Efficiency Management’ business programme. SA Brewing Co has also submitted a Water Efficiency Plan to SA Water, while the Swan Brewery has teamed up with the West Australian Water Corporation to promote efficient water usage through the Waterwise Business Programme.

Our involvement in these programs together with the initiatives we’ve undertaken at all our breweries have had a significant positive impact on our water usage rates.

In FY08, we continued to work with local, state and federal authorities to maximise opportunities to reduce and recycle water as well as reducing effluent discharge.

On average across our breweries, we currently use approximately 4 litres of water for every litre of beer we produce. In FY08, our overall water usage per litre of beer packed dropped for the fourteenth consecutive year by a further 5.6%.

Castlemaine Perkins commenced installation of a $16 million waste water recycling plant which will reduce water consumption at the Milton brewery by around 40% and will bring Castlemaine’s usage to world’s best practice at around 2.2 litres of water per litre of beer produced. At the same time, effluent will be reduced by an equivalent percentage.



More information on our initiatives and the results of our efforts can be viewed in our Sustainability Report and Water Conservation Case Studies.