2020 Evoqua Water Sustainability Award

Demonstrating commitment to community, environment, and energy efficiency

Winner

Bush Brothers & Company | Chestnut Hill, Tennessee, USA


Community Impact
Bush Brothers & Company, America's largest manufacturer of prepared beans, has been recognized for Evoqua's annual Water Sustainability Award after demonstrating multiple noteworthy improvements in its water sustainability efforts. The family owned business has been operating in the small community of Chestnut Hill, Tennessee for more than 110 years, and consistently aims to reduce its impact on the community. For example, when the area was facing water scarcity and drought concerns, Bush Brother's & Company took action to lessen their facility's strain on limited water resources through a two-phase water reuse project.

BUSH'S® Process Water Reuse Facility currently receives and biologically treats wastewater generated from bean rehydration & cleaning, batching of sauces, and plant sanitation operations. The overall system design incorporates sustainability benefits that are highlighted by waste bean solids captured and used for cattle feed, use of anaerobic biogas as boiler fuel, land irrigation of treated water to replenish the water table, and reuse of treated water for non-food contact utility applications. The primary treatment plant operation utilizes multiple Evoqua dissolved air flotation units and the water reuse design utilized Evoqua reverse osmosis units prior to final reuse at utility applications. The technologies and methods currently operating at the Bush Brothers & Company facility are a case study for water intensive industry to maximize reuse and minimize environmental footprint.

" Bush Brothers & Company is proud to be selected by Evoqua for an award that recognizes the devotion that our people put toward creating a sustainable business, reducing our impact on the environment and improving our community. "

Al Williams, President and CEO, Bush Brothers & Company

Each year, the award is given to celebrate World Water Day, which occurs annually on March 22. Evoqua employees nominate sustainable companies from its 38,000-customer base for exhibiting excellent water stewardship and demonstrating sustainable efforts in their strategies around community impact, water and energy efficiency and environmental protection. We are excited to celebrate the 2020 Evoqua Water Sustainability Award winner, Bush Brothers & Company, at the New York Stock Exchange later this year. When businesses and communities work together, we can develop solutions to the world’s most pressing water issues.

> Read about a past project we worked on with Bush Brothers & Company and discover how they leveraged the ADI-BVF® reactor to turn process wastewater into electricity.