Buyers Guide 2021

36 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2021 Energy, the Environment & Water Focus on: Water & Waste Management Water reduction in manufacturing - a commercial no-brainer W hen we talk about the environment, we tend to limit the conversation to climate. The planet is warming and, unless we change our ways drastically, we’re going to have to get used to more extreme weather events, melting icecaps and rising sea levels. Water issues, at least as far as the discourse in the UK goes, are more concerned with the prospect of it gushing through our homes than with any sense that the taps might ever run dry. But, while that outlook is understandable in a country so resigned to interminable rain as the UK, demand for the elixir of life could well outstrip supply inside 25 years, according to the Environment Agency. In averting such an outcome, it is fair to say that we all have to do our bit. But, looking at things purely from a commercial manufacturing perspective, it strikes me that radically reducing and recycling the water we use in our processes and cleaning regimes is the obvious choice. So obvious that I’m not sure why we discuss it so little or, indeed, why the idea didn’t gain more traction here a very long time ago. Surmountable problem Climate change is not the only or even main threat to the UK’s water supply. Our population has grown year-on-year from 56 million in 1982 and is projected by the Office for National Statistics to increase from today’s 66.4 million to over 70 million by the end of the decade. Combine the dynamics of our population with the fact that our individual usage has risen from around 85 litres per day in the 1960s to 143 litres each today and you get an idea of the experts’ concerns around water scarcity. It is clear we have a problem to resolve but the good news is there are ways and means. And, while the public would do well to limit their consumption too, there is a strong commercial case for manufacturers, particularly those in a food and drink industry that uses so much water, to reduce, recover and reuse. Multiple benefits Imagine for one moment that you were able to reduce the aggregate amount of water used in production processes at your facility by 25%, for the sake of argument. Not only does your bill for bringing it in reduce commensurately but so do the costs you face under the Mogden Formula for getting rid of it. Think about further cost reductions, when you do the same with your cleaning regimes and then begin to recycle 50% of the water used for production and incorporate it into your Ian Hart* sets out the many benefits – commercial and otherwise – of reducing water consumption in manufacturing and argues that businesses should adopt an altogether different approach to a precious resource that will come under increased pressure in the years ahead.