Image: Elizabeth Rudd, chair of Berry Bros & Rudd and Daniel Szor, founder of Cotswolds Distillery

 

Cotswolds Distillery has revealed a its new Wetlands Ecological Treatment System on the distillery grounds. According to the distillery, the Wetlands will naturally process three quarters of waste water created by making whisky at the distillery.

 

The site will also be a biodiverse plant and wildlife habitat. Cotswolds Distillery has previously championed biodiversity through a recent collaboration with Highgrove Gardens. 

 

The Wetlands project was funded by Cotswolds Distillery investor and fine spirits merchant Berry Bros & Rudd. The team appointed Living Water Ecosystems and Rachael White Designs to create the facility, which has been in progress since May 2023. 

 

The Ecological Treatment System will treat Spent Lees, water left in the still after the second distillation, and Wash Water waste, which has been used for cleaning in the distillery. The system will treat the waste water by breaking down contaminants in the water streams. 

 

Through the system, Cotswolds Distillery hopes to reduce distillery waste by tens of thousands of litres of water every week. Clean water from the system will be used to grow a coppice of willows, an addition to the wildlife habitat created on the site. 

 

Dan Szor, Cotswolds Distillery founder, said: “We have been looking for ways to improve our waste management and a wetlands treatment system seemed like the perfect solution. Hopefully it will reinforce our position as a force for good within our local community as it allows us to be more environmentally friendly by cutting down on waste and waste transportation and at the same time creating a haven for wildlife.”