Small Improvements, Big Impact: How High Desert Milk Is Reducing Water and Energy Use

At High Desert Milk, making great dairy products is only part of what we do. We’re also committed to finding better ways to operate, reduce waste, and make responsible use of the resources that keep our facility running.

Since July 2024, we’ve been working alongside Hydrite, a company with nearly 100 years of experience serving the food and dairy manufacturing industry, to identify opportunities to improve efficiency throughout our Burley, Idaho facility.

What started as a series of improvements to our cleaning and production processes has grown into something much bigger.

Together, we’ve reduced water consumption by more than 12 million gallons, saved electricity and natural gas, reduced chemical usage, and made our cleaning processes more efficient.

And we’re not finished.

Sustainability by the Numbers

Over the first two years of our partnership with Hydrite, we’ve achieved some pretty significant results.

• 12,481,800 gallons of water reduced
• 113,346 kWh of electricity reduced
• 127 million BTUs of natural gas reduced
• 5,220 gallons of cleaning chemistry reduced
• 53,040 miles of transportation reduced
• 16,197 minutes of cleaning time saved

That’s nearly 270 hours of cleaning time saved, allowing our team to spend less time running cleaning cycles while maintaining the sanitation standards our dairy products require.

These improvements are especially meaningful in southern Idaho, where water and energy are valuable resources for our agricultural communities.

“The best sustainability improvements are the ones that also make us a better operation. Our partnership with Hydrite has helped us identify practical opportunities to reduce water, energy, and chemical use while improving the efficiency of our processes. That combination creates real, lasting value for High Desert Milk and the community we operate in.”

Jordan Oakes, Plant Manager, High Desert Milk

Finding Opportunities in Everyday Operations

Some of the most effective sustainability improvements don’t require completely new equipment or major changes to production.

Sometimes, the biggest difference comes from looking closely at processes we’ve been using every day and asking a simple question: Can we do this more efficiently?

That’s exactly what our team and Hydrite have been doing.

Much of the work has focused on our clean-in-place (CIP) systems. These systems clean and sanitize production equipment without requiring it to be disassembled.

CIP is an essential part of dairy manufacturing, but cleaning cycles also consume water, energy, chemicals, and time.

By reviewing operating data, evaluating rinse cycles, and confirming cleaning performance, we’ve been able to make several important improvements.

Saving Over 7 Million Gallons Through Better Rinsing

One of our largest improvements came from optimizing the rinse process in our ultrafiltration (UF) system.

Ultrafiltration plays an important role in dairy processing, but the membrane cleaning process was using more rinse water than necessary.

Working together, Hydrite and our plant team reviewed water flow, rinse sequences, and supply pressures to improve how effectively the system removes solids during cleaning.

The results were significant:

• 7,231,680 gallons of water saved annually
• 11,664 minutes of cleaning time saved annually

That’s more than 194 hours of cleaning time saved each year from this improvement alone.

Making Our Cream Cheese Production More Efficient

Our cream cheese production lines presented several additional opportunities to reduce water consumption.

On our hot cream cheese line, the rinsing steps following chemical cleaning were running longer than necessary. By reducing the rinse time by five minutes, we were able to save approximately 97,500 gallons of water and 780 minutes of cleaning time annually.

Another improvement came from our cream cheese transfer line.

Previously, one rinse cycle ran for 23 minutes, even though the water had already reached a neutral pH well before the cycle ended.

By using pH measurements to determine when the rinse was complete, we reduced that cycle from 23 minutes to just 9 minutes.

That change saves an estimated 65,520 gallons of water and 2,184 minutes annually, while maintaining cleaning and food-safety standards.

A Simple Change to Our Packaging Tanks

Our packaging tanks provided another opportunity for improvement.

The standard rinse cycle had been set to 30 minutes, but testing confirmed that the tanks could be reliably and safely rinsed in 20 minutes.

Adjusting that cycle saves approximately 124,800 gallons of water and 1,569 minutes each year.

Ten minutes might not seem like much, but when a process is repeated throughout the year, those small savings really add up.

Working Together for Better Results

These improvements didn’t happen overnight, and they certainly didn’t happen without teamwork.

Hydrite’s Food Program Managers have worked directly with our plant personnel to review cleaning programs, study operating data, and identify areas where we can use fewer resources without compromising product quality or food safety.

That collaboration has helped turn everyday observations into measurable improvements.

“One of the traits we see at successful customer locations is people that genuinely care about what they do. The team at HDM understands that how they manage natural resources affects not only their efficiency as a dairy manufacturer, but also the environment and community in which they operate and live.”

Paul Smith, Director of Strategic Accounts, Hydrite

We’re grateful for the expertise Hydrite brings to our facility and for the dedication of our own employees, who put these improvements into practice every day.

Why Sustainability Matters to High Desert Milk

As a dairy manufacturer rooted in southern Idaho, we understand how closely our business is connected to the land, water, agriculture, and communities around us.

Our dairy producers depend on these resources, and so do the families and businesses throughout the region.

Whether we’re producing milk protein concentrate, butter, cream cheese, or other dairy ingredients, we want to make the best possible use of the resources involved.

For us, sustainability isn’t just about reducing consumption. It’s also about building a stronger, more efficient operation that can continue serving our customers, dairy producers, employees, and community for years to come.

The improvements we’ve made with Hydrite demonstrate that environmental responsibility and operational efficiency can go hand in hand.

Looking Ahead: Continuous Improvement

While we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, there’s still more work to do.

Our team continues to meet with Hydrite regularly to evaluate cleaning systems, water consumption, process controls, and opportunities for further efficiency improvements.

Through monthly reviews and ongoing collaboration, we’re identifying new projects that can deliver meaningful long-term results.

The goal is simple: keep finding ways to do things better.

Saving more than 12 million gallons of water is an achievement we’re proud of, but what matters even more is creating a culture where improvement never stops.

We’re thankful for our employees, dairy producers, and partners like Hydrite who help make that possible.

Better processes. Less waste. A stronger future for High Desert Milk and the southern Idaho community.