Hi @Rookie the answer to all your questions are going vary widely depending on who you talk to and where they operate.
Your first question, I could write you a long story to answer it, would be a much better phone discussion
For water treatment, this will depend on the input from your local water authorities. I have run distilleries where I had to carefully control our waste water and treat it. ive also run distilleries where we did not treat our waste water at all
Same the answer to the last question. Yes and No
If you need some help getting a distillery going and need help clearing regulation hurdles, please email me Distillerynow@gmail.com and I can share my experiences with you and help you work through them.