THIRSTY WORK
Water is fundamental for all life on earth, but it is also a finite resource. In the last century, global water use has grown at more than twice the rate of population increase, and the World Economic Forum now predicts there will be a 40 per cent gap between global water supply and demand by 2030.
Water is essential for making gin. Every bottle of 42% ABV gin is, by definition, 58 per cent water, but the quantity of water required throughout the production process – from farming and fermentation to cooling and cleaning – dwarfs those figures. In 2020, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) found distilleries used approximately 28 litres of water to produce one single litre of spirit. It is these demands, in addition to the need to discharge wastewater, that has traditionally seen distilleries located close to rivers and lakes.
