Across all sectors, industry sees water efficiency as a competitive lever and a way forward. Rationalising consumption, optimising treatment budgets, reclaiming wastewater: the quest for water efficiency is based on a global recycling strategy and new water management policies.

 

Dynamic mapping of water flows and uses

An exhaustible and alterable resource, water is an increasingly expensive commodity whose costs are often underestimated, over and above the more visible costs associated with supply and waste treatment. In France, the price of water remains low, which can act as a brake on innovation in the interests of sustainability and on recycling initiatives that reduce consumption, pollutant emissions and production.

The search for a return on investment requires a dynamic mapping of the different uses of water. This primarily involves identifying requirements in terms of quantity and quality of water at each stage of the process, discharges, economic interests and regulatory constraints, depending on the industrial sector. The aim is to draw up a “flow circulation plan” based on knowledge of the equipment and its impact, in order to reduce withdrawals at source and encourage short-circuit recycling as close as possible to the point of use.

Rethinking the water cycle as part of an overall recycling strategy

Water efficiency is part of an overall strategy for recycling wastewater, reinforced by the increasing number of drought decrees and water restrictions. The choice of investments and the implementation of an ad hoc action plan will depend on this strategy. In principle, this involves treating 'waste' water from a process or water leaving the site's WWTP for another use (washing water, utility water, supply to cooling towers).

Water can be recirculated at several levels, either in a short loop during the process and before the WWTP, or in a long loop after the WWTP, depending on the water quality targeted. Nearly 60% of food industry companies now say they want to increase the proportion of water they recycle. The vast majority of those who have already embarked on this “ReUse” approach (90%), whether as industrial-scale pilots or more formalised projects, are reusing water in a short-loop system, which is still the least costly (1)

 

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Water, energy and economic efficiency: the way forward

Guided by water efficiency, recycling strategies represent a real source of savings. However, the maturity of these strategies varies from one industry to another, depending on the type of water and the regulatory or local constraints. In the food industry, for example, the dairy/cheese-making sector is strongly committed to recycling and has effective water management policies.

At the heart of industrial processes, water quality has a direct impact on the quality of production, the overall operation of plant facilities and their maintenance. Because it influences energy and industrial performance, water must be analysed as one of the various elements that interact throughout the production chain. The contribution made by technology, in particular through predictive calculations based on historical data, represents another source of efficiency, making it possible to save energy and water, optimise production and develop a more virtuous approach to water management.

Whether it's the food, chemical, oil and gas, mining or paper industries, all of industry is concerned. Increasingly, they see water efficiency and the associated treatments as a lever for competitiveness, and wastewater reclamation as an avenue to be encouraged and prioritised.

 

(1): “Reuse of water lost in processes” survey conducted by BWT among 150 companies in the food sector (April 2019)

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