Photo: Gergő Pejkó I took a refreshi g shower for the sake of the picture, the I realised I’d just wasted a few litres of water. So, I wo ’t be doi g that agai , because water is to be treasured. I deed, wi emakers k ow this very well, because the domi a t compo e t i your wi e glass, approximately 85% of the total volume, is i fact water. I additio , this is the era of clea wi es, i which water plays a key role. If you were to thi k that clea li ess a d hygie e are the most importa t criteria i the wi emaki g of o ly large-scale wi eries, you’d be wro g. Small a d eve o e-ma wi eries are, if a ythi g, forced to work i a flawlessly clea e viro me t eve more tha their larger cou terparts. After all, every barrel of wi e must be sold. Nothi g ca go to waste. How ca it be e sured that a wi ery is clea ? The water comi g i to the wi ery ca eve be filtered, so that chlori e-free water is used to clea the harvesti g equipme t, barrels a d everythi g else i the wi ery. The sterile co ditio of the equipme t a d machi ery is o e of the basic co ditio s for the productio of high-quality products. The improveme t of hygie e is o e of the most sig ifica t features that has take place i the world of wi e over the last 100 years. I additio to water, amo g other thi gs, UV light a d ultrasou d are also used agai st u wa ted bacteria. How much water is eeded for o e glass of wi e? Calculatio s show that it takes 109 litres of water to produce a 125 ml glass of wi e (Water Footpri t Network). Whe we say that a glass of wi e co tai s 109 litres of water, we are referri g to all of the water used to produce the said glass of wi e: grape growi g a d processi g, bottli g, etc. This is far more tha the 74 litres that it costs to produce 250 ml of beer. Photo: Gergő Pejkó Why is the water co sumptio of wi eries decreasi g? Because for all wi eries, the prese t a d the future are both about savi g e ergy a d water, for their sustai able operatio . For example, o e i ter atio al wi emaki g family, Jackso Family Wi es wi eries have reduced their overall water use by 43% si ce 2008. Wi eries ca reduce their overall water use sig ifica tly through i ter al activities such as redesig i g their barrel-washi g processes to reuse the same water several times, real-time water readi gs, UV waterless ta k clea i g, a d air-cooled chillers. A d ow eve the water that gets out of the wi eries goes to waste… The project WETWINE is built arou d a system to treat a d recover waste from wi e productio . It’s a project withi the I terreg Sudoe tra s atio al cooperatio programme, co-fi a ced by the Europea Regio al Developme t Fu d, with eight participati g part ers from Spai , Portugal, a d Fra ce. Usi g low-cost atural tech ologies, the project shows the viability of co structed wetla ds as a ma ageme t model for vi icultural efflue t, allowi g for both the treatme t of wastewater for its subseque t reuse i irrigatio a d the recycli g of biosolids as fertilizer.