Water-Saving Week at Wensleydale Creamery

Monday 15^th May marks the start of Water-Saving Week, an annual online campaign to raise awareness about the need of reducing water waste to manage climate change, maintain the environment, and assist local communities in thriving.

Here at Wensleydale Creamery, water is an important part of everything we do!  From how we water our calcareous green roof, to processing our whey, and even the water we wash our factory with, our water is recycled, upcycled and reused in some rather extraordinary ways!

Did you know…

At the beginning of the cheese making process, the milk is separated into curds and whey.  The solid curds are crafted into cheese, whilst our whey liquid (around 85% of the milk) is spun really fast in a centrifuge to remove the whey cream which is then used to make our award-winning Yorkshire Butter!

Some of the liquid left over from this process is then sent to a local bioenergy plant that produces enough renewable biogas to heat over 4,000 homes! The Leeming biogas plant, based just down the road from the Creamery at Leeming Bar, uses a process called anaerobic digestion to turn the whey into renewable biogas.

The liquid that isn’t sent off to be turned into energy is passed through micro filters. This extracts the proteins and fats which are then filtered off and turned into whey power, which is used in huge number of everyday products from baby food and sports nutrition, to ice cream, confectionery and many more.

Our water is recycled, upcycled and reused in some rather extraordinary ways!

What’s left after this filtration process, is water which is then used to clean the equipment in our factory!   Through this process we’re able to recover 66% of the initial liquid used to make our cheese, reducing our water consumption by around 50%!

Want to find out more for yourself! Our Visitor Experience here at the Creamery in Hawes takes you on an interactive journey from the very start of our cheese making process, right through to how we make use of our bi products and much more!

Open all year round you can now book your tickets online HERE