3. Creating a man-made wetland to process brewery wastewater

Karlos Knott (1); (1) Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, LA, U.S.A.

Technical Session 1: Eco-Awareness & Sustainability
Sunday, August 14  •  9:45–11:30 a.m.
Plaza Building, Concourse Level, Governor’s Square 14

For the WBC presentation I’d like to present information on the wetlands system that Dr. Whitney Broussard and Dr. Ron Sheffield designed for us. The treatment pond incorporates a 25 year, 24 hr storm storage of 10 in. and a 1 ft engineering freeboard. As designed, the treatment pond allows us to brew up to twice our annual capacity at the time of its implementation. We then worked with our contractor to design the pond layout to minimize the surface runoff entering the pond. The wastewater from the treatment pond is then sent to a shallow, manmade marsh, where native, local plants known to remove pollutants from water are planted. I would like to discuss how we turned a problem into an asset, namely a nice marsh behind our brewery where birdwatchers and environmental tourists can visit, not to mention a scenic view for our beer garden’s guests. I will then discuss the planning, building and maintenance of the natural system, as well as the regulatory hurdles we encountered in its commission.

President of Bayou Teche Brewing Karlos Knott developed an appreciation for the finely brewed beers of Europe while serving as a U.S. Army cavalry scout in Germany in the 1990s. While there, he savored the local beers and cuisines that had evolved symbiotically together. Transferred to the Pacific Northwest just as that region’s microbrewery scene was starting to explode, Karlos often visited these small emerging breweries and then started brewing small batches of beer at home. This newfound hobby made it possible for him to craft a tolerable Hefeweizen, a German wheat beer that at that time was nearly impossible to get in the states. After his discharge from the army, he came back to Acadiana, crafting beers for special family occasions and honing his brewing skills, all the while listening to Cajun and Zydeco music. He has a B.A. degree in English from the University of Maryland European Division. When not brewing beer, drinking beer, or reading about brewing or drinking beer, Karlos enjoys playing his Cajun accordion, cooking for and spending time with his family and cruising rural Acadiana highways on his Harley Springer looking for the elusive perfect link of boudin.

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