Carolyn Howell, Karen Freitag & Lester Sassman

Where wineries are surrounded by vineyards, diluted winery wastewater could be used as an alternative source of water for irrigation rather than water from natural resources.

Using winery wastewater for irrigation adds substantial amounts of potassium and sodium to the soil.

During wine production, wineries produce large volumes of poor-quality wastewater. This wastewater can be used for irrigation, but this delivers substantial amounts of elements to the soil.

Winery wastewater has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) with high levels of potassium (K) and sodium (Na). Using it for irrigation adds substantial amounts of elements such as K and Na to the soil, therefore maximising element removal by means of a catch crop is important.

Irrigation with winery wastewater needs to be optimised to minimise leaching, whilst maximising nutrient removal by means of a catch crop is a necessity.