Award Winning Winery Utilizes BioFiltro’s Worm Powered Solutions to Reduce Environmental Footprint
Davis, CA, September 18, 2019 – Wise Villa Winery, voted the Golden State Winery of the Year during the 2015 California State Fair, has welcomed thousands of California wiggly employees this fall. The Lincoln, CA establishment is the first winery in the Sacramento area to install BioFiltro’s Biodynamic Aerobic (BIDA®) System, a dynamic water treatment solution that capitalizes on the digestive power of worms and microbes. The system enables Wise Villa to treat and recycle process water for agricultural reuse while simultaneously generating worm castings, a nutritious soil amendment, which can be harvested from the system and applied back in the vineyard to improve soil health and water retention.
“Wise Villa Winery’s unwavering commitment to sustainable and organic farming practices was a major factor for choosing BioFiltro over contending technologies,” said Ernie Bayless, COO of Wise Villa Winery. “BioFiltro foregoes typical chemical and/or energy intensive methods and instead utilizes earthworms, microbes, and organic material to efficiently treat water. BioFiltro, like Wise Villa’s winemaking practices, embodies a harmonious blend of mother nature and technology to deliver outstanding results. Furthermore, as a small winery that is looking to expand over the coming years, BioFiltro’s scalable and cost-effective systems made it a no brainer decision.”
A Scalable Solution to a Growing Need: Winemaking, on average, produces six gallons of process water for every gallon of wine. In anticipation that California will introduce a state wide winery discharge regulation permit, many wineries are proactively changing how they handle their process water to reduce their environmental impact.
How It Works: The BIDA® System is a passive aerobic bioreactor that consists of layers of wood shavings, geotextiles, and drainage basins. At Wise Villa, the medias are housed in a customized two story 20’ shipping container where process water from the winery is pumped evenly across the media surface in a continuous batch process. As the water percolates down through the wood shavings, worms and microbes capture and convert the contaminants into worm castings, a microbial rich soil amendment. Within four hours, up to 99% of contaminants have been removed and the water can be used for drip irrigation without risk of damaging the lines, vines, or land.
“We developed a containerized product to respond to potential regulations that will require the craft and boutique beverage industry to deliver high quality effluent onsite. By keeping our system cost effective, highly efficient, scalable, and sustainable, BioFiltro provides a quadruple bottom line for our clients,” says Mai Ann Healy, Head of Business Development for BioFiltro. “Wise Villa is a fast-growing winery and we are proud to further the winery’s commitment to incorporating ancient practices with modern organic techniques. Our worms and microbes are the product of billions of years of refinement, we just pioneered a method to catalyze their digestive capabilities into a water treatment solution. Wiggle on!”
About Wise Villa Winery:
The Placer County Winery was awarded 2015 Winery of the Year by the Governor of CA and was recognized by the SF Chronicle as the Third Most Awarded Winery in North America. With its Tuscan style bistro, it is the only winery in Placer County to offer a full-service restaurant.
About BioFiltro:
BioFiltro is a global company that provides patented worm powered wastewater solutions across four continents and six industries. Its systems are currently operating in over 160 plants and have collectively filtered more than 36 billion gallons of sanitary and industrial liquid waste in areas even as remote as Antarctica and the Atacama Desert.
