A group of Kentucky businessmen with knowledge, contacts, and experience in the Kentucky Bourbon Industry came together to found HydroDistill Environmental Solutions (HD). Recognizing one of the industry's most critical and expensive issues, HD was formed to develop a technology solution to properly treat, remove, and manage the distillers’ spent grains and wastewater (DSG). The industry faces 2 huge issues related to DSG treatment:
Environmental concerns and pressures from the EPA and local officials have increased significantly. This has forced most distilleries to pay to have DSG hauled off to local farms or treatment facilities. This is a very costly and potentially disruptive situation for the distilleries. Other distilleries have spent millions on costly anaerobic digestion systems that are proving to be difficult to operate and maintain and mostly ineffective in solving the issue.
Rapid expansion of the KY bourbon industry in the last decade has put pressure on local water supplies as it takes approximately 9-10 gallons of clean water to produce 1 gallon of bourbon. In many areas of KY, water sources are not sufficient to support additional expansion.

Not only do both issues present huge costs and logistical challenges but they also present public relationship concerns to an industry that desperately wants to promote good corporate stewardship of the environment.

AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION BASED ON SQ1 TECHNOLOGY

HD has partnered with SQ1 to design, develop and build an end-to-end system to address these critical challenges facing the industry. The HD system has been tested and now a pilot of the system is being built in conjunction with one of the bourbon industry’s technology leaders, Bardstown Bourbon Company. The HD and SQ1 solution will deliver several benefits to the industry:
Cost-effective. Lower costs than other treatment solutions or by simply trucking the problem away.
Reclaim Water. Provides a clean, reliable and sustainable water source to alleviate pressures on local water supplies.
Risk and Liability. Completely removes the distillery's exposure with dealing with the issue.
Good Corporate Stewardship. Demonstrating and promoting more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices leads to good Corporate Stewardship.
A Circular Economy. By repurposing and recycling the spent grains and by treating and recycling the DSG wastewater, a true Circular Economy is created and sustained.
This partnership and project will spearhead SQ1’s entry into the huge industrial wastewater treatment and management sector.