4 Ways
Reducing H₂O Use
Cuts CO₂ Emissions

It isn’t obvious to all manufacturing companies that reducing their water use can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions – but it ought to be.

Almost every item that’s manufactured uses water somewhere in its production process, according to the United States Geological Survey. And since it takes energy to heat, cool, treat and move water, less water used means less energy consumed, less carbon emitted and lower costs.

World’s
Annual
Freshwater
Usage

1/3

150 Companies
+ Supply Chains

Water cost

2010

How much water could be saved by manufacturing companies? Making improvements could have an enormous impact on the world’s water crisis and global emissions.

Just 150 companies and their supply chains account for one-third of the world’s freshwater used annually, according to an internal study by the Water Resilience Coalition, a consortium of 35 companies that have committed to reducing their water use.

Efforts to reduce water consumption by manufacturers come against the backdrop of rising water costs. Water costs for manufacturing companies in America’s 50 largest cities rose 66% in the decade ending in 2020, according to the consulting firm Black & Veatch.

As an example, food and beverage companies tend to rely heavily on water in their operations, according to Calvin Emanuel, Vice President and General Manager for Sustainable Growth Solutions at Ecolab. The company helps customers in more than 170 countries optimize their water use, as well as advance food safety and maintain clean and safe environments.

For every liter of water used in its beverages, breweries typically use another 3 or more liters in the production process, Emanuel says. Here’s how they, and other manufacturing facilities, can reduce their water consumption.

Move Less Water

The interior surfaces of a manufacturing facility’s production system will need to be cleaned on a regular basis, often using clean-in-place (CIP) technology, where by the equipment doesn’t need to be disassembled. That cleaning process needs to be monitored closely to verify cleanliness and to ensure facilities don’t move more hot water through the system – and use more energy to heat it – than is necessary.

Heat Less Water

Heating water can produce scale inside a boiler. The boiler then requires more energy to operate. To lessen scale formation, water should be pretreated before using it in the boiler system by removing solids and reducing its mineral content. Properly treated, this already heated water can be recycled through boilers several times, reducing total water and energy usage.

Cool Less Water

Cooling systems throughout the plant use water to reduce the temperature of a product or process, such as fermentation or pasteurization. Treating this water keeps the cooling efficiency high and by reusing it a cooling system reduces the amount of water needed.

Treat Less Water

Before water that has been used for heating, cooling and cleaning is released back into the environment, it will be treated again. “But we’re able to take some of that wastewater, after it’s been purified, and use it again,” Emanuel says.

More efficient water management in production processes can reduce:

Water
consumption

up to 44%

Energy
use

up to 22%

Greenhouse
gas emissions

up to 12%

Source: Ecolab study of average cumulative savings based on more than 500 assessments in manufacturing facilities across multiple industries. Actual results will vary based on individual plant design & operation.

“You’re helping preserve the world’s water supplies, while at the same time you’re cutting your expenses and you’re one step closer to net zero carbon emissions,“ says Emanuel.

“It’s a win-win-win. But first you must transform the way you think about water.”

Learn More

4 Ways Reducing H2O Use Cuts CO2 Emissions

World’s Annual Freshwater Usage

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