UK-based Fuller, Smith and Turner Ltd have been brewing some of Britain’s most popular beers by the Thames since 1845. Producing over 70,000 litres of beer every day comes with significant water management challenges. To ensure their flagship organic product, Honey Dew, stays all natural and chemical free, Fuller’s enlisted the expertise of Palintest and our unique sensor technology.

The brewing process utilises water in several different ways, using some for the final product and some for the production processes. The water that is used to make the beer, known as brewing liquor, has been highly purified to remove trace chemicals such as chlorine which are added by water utility companies. This helps to protect the unique strains of yeast used by Fuller’s to make their beers and ales.

A separate stream of water is used for cleaning tanks, powering heat exchangers and rinsing bottles. This water, known as process liquor, is also highly purified, however a disinfectant must be added to prevent microbiological contamination. Rather than using traditional disinfectants which have long-lasting residuals and can form organic disinfection by-products, Fuller’s has implemented a chlorine dioxide dosing system.

Chlorine dioxide is a highly volatile but effective disinfectant with the ability to deactivate the chlorine resistant oocysts of pathogens such as Cryptosporidium.

Chlorine dioxide produces fewer disinfection by-products compared to traditional disinfectants such as chlorine and bromine. This means once the water has been disinfected, there is a much lower level of oxidising and by-product chemicals left over – perfect for cleaning-in-place applications where a product’s organic status needs to be maintained. For more information about Cleaning in Place click here.

Chlorine Dioxide is typically generated by converting a Chlorite to Chlorine Dioxide. It is essential to be able to accurately measure any residual chlorite as the Soil Association has set an upper limit of 0.5 mg/L for water that could potentially come into contact with an organic product.

To ensure the organic approval of its product, Fuller’s has turned to Palintest’s sensor technology. Our disposable sensor technology utilises chronoamperometry which eliminates the interferences typically associated with colorimetric methods. As colorimetric test methods rely on measuring light transmission for assessing colour, they do not tolerate highly coloured or cloudy samples. Chronoamperometry does not rely on light or colour and therefore overcomes these challenges associated with reagent-based testing.

Amperometric methods are traditionally the domain of large laboratory instrumentation which require high levels of user care and for calibration and maintenance of the electrodes. Palintest sensor technology allows Fuller’s to monitor chlorine dioxide and chlorite without transporting samples to a lab. This enables immediate intervention and better informed decisions on adjustments to the dosing. This all means that the Fuller’s brewery can keep producing great tasting organic beer.