Fonterra invests to reduce water use by 70% at Darfield

An $11 million investment in water processing technology at Fonterra’s Darfield plant will reduce the amount of groundwater extracted at the manufacturing site by around 70%.

Construction is already underway on the new plant, which uses a reverse osmosis technique to purify the water extracted from cows’ milk during the manufacturing process. Water is passed through a membrane filtration system which makes it drinkable and suitable for use in a range of on-site activities such as cooling, heating and cleaning.

“Thanks to the new plant, we’ll save the equivalent of around 100 tanker loads of water every day,” said Robert Spurway, head of Fonterra’s Global Operations.

“As well as reducing water use, the new technology also decreases the amount of water the site discharges for irrigation. It’s a win-win situation.”

The Darfield development aligns with Fonterra’s six water commitments to help improve the quality of New Zealand’s waterways.

The new plant is expected to be up and running by October this year, in time for the 2018/2019 milk season.