S.A.V.E Environmental Water Monitoring Initiative
The water quality and quantity issues will pose the greatest environmental challenge in the 21st century. Companies are invited to join our Environmental Water Monitoring Programme to help conserve freshwater and protect the environment.
S.A.V.E programme:
Environmental Water Quality Monitoring Programme
According to the Global Environmental Management Initiative, GEMI.org:
Supplies
of freshwater are stretched to meet the demands of growing populations,
increasing industrial development and agricultural production, and
ecosystem and wildlife protection. Awareness of global,
regional, and local freshwater trends can ensure that organizations
have time to plan and act before crises arise.
Although most of the world is not running out of freshwater, a number of regions face chronic freshwater shortages. In the future,
water shortages are likely to spread due to increasing demands,
unsustainable withdrawal rates, difficulty in finding new supplies,
pollution and source water contamination, and changing climatic and
precipitation patterns.
Water shortages
impact regional security by causing human health problems and
population displacement, increasing conflicts between competing users,
and damaging ecosystem health. While regulatory responses are becoming more stringent, watershed-based management approaches are expanding.
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Case Studies
Source: Global Environmental Management Initiative, GEMI.org
- Abbott Laboratories has
found that it can make good business sense to invest in clean drinking
water in communities in which the company operates. The company has
worked to support local efforts to improve rural drinking water
systems; http://www.gemi.org/water/abbott2.htm
- Abbott Laboratories have
reduced facility costs with water reuse and recycling and taken
creative steps to minimize potential wastewater discharge impacts to
local surfacewaters from its nutritional operations; http://www.gemi.org/water/abbott.htm
- Anheuser Bush Inc.
the world's largest brewer of beer, faced water-related challenges
along the supply chain. Learn how they took a more comprehensive,
strategic, and sustainable approach to water issues; http://www.gemi.org/water/anheuser.htm
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) developed
a comprehensive Watershed Management Program to demonstrate corporate
commitment to sustainable development principles; http://www.gemi.org/water/bristol.htm
- The Coca-Cola Company uses
source protection planning to identify source vulnerabilities and to
assure a continuous supply of high quality freshwater. All facilities
are expected to evaluate the reliability of water sources on which they
depend; http://www.gemi.org/water/coca-cola.htm
- ConAgra Foods save
about 300,000 gallons of water a day. This will allow the facility to
double production yet only increase its total water use by 15%; reduce
water purchases by 70% (15 million gallons) annually; this reduced the
city's total water demands by nearly 1%, and earned recognition from
the Minnesota Council of Environmental Services; http://www.gemi.org/water/conagra2.htm
- DuPont manages
strategic risk through innovative wastewater treatment. Dupont was
concerned about the business disruption that could result from
increasing community concerns and potential regulatory changes that
would restrict on deep well injection as its sole wastewater discharge
method in the future; http://www.gemi.org/water/dupont.htm
- DuPont’s
corporate environmental plan, facilities are required to develop
performance goals and targets to track water performance to foster
improvement over time; http://www.gemi.org/water/dupont2.htm
- Eastman Kodak Company's
hospital and medical X-ray facility film customers in France were
challenged to meet new regulatory requirements for discharge to
biological wastewater treatment plants. With the assistance of Kodak,
they not only met the regulatory challenge but also found ways to
reduce water usage; http://www.gemi.org/water/kodak2.htm
- Eastman Kodak Company wanted
to demonstrate that an innovative regulatory option to reduce silver
discharges from photoprocessing facilities could achieve environmental
goals more effectively and efficiently than traditional regulatory
approaches, delivering cost savings and simplifying municipal
pretreatment program administration; http://www.gemi.org/water/kodak.htm
- Georgia Pacific
management recognizes that strong environmental and safety performance
is vital to strong financial performance. The company established clear
environmental performance goals, the five water pollution prevention
goals included; http://www.gemi.org/water/georgia-pacific.htm
- Intel Corporation
reduced and reused water at Chip fabrication plants. Depletion of
groundwater reserves created strong pressures for businesses to
minimize water use. Intel facility has reduced water use by 47 percent
since 1994; http://www.gemi.org/water/intel2.htm
- Johnson Controls Inc. water
management programs reduce facility water use and provide cost savings.
By adding water management as a new facility service, Johnson Controls
has been able to create new markets, build top-line value, and offer a
full scope of facility solutions; http://www.gemi.org/water/johnson.htm
- Novartis
engaging employees to reduce water use discovered that employee
education and involvement related to water management, can yield
significant returns; http://www.gemi.org/water/novartis.htm
- Olin Corporation
received the New York State Governor’s Award for pollution prevention
for an innovative project that eliminated the daily discharge of 16,500
gallons of wastewater to the City of Niagara Falls’ sewage treatment
facility and that captures former waste materials for reuse in the
company’s manufacturing processes; http://www.gemi.org/water/olin.htm
- The Procter and Gamble Company, over
the past few years, has significantly reduced water usage and pollution
at its manufacturing plants. However, one of the company’s biggest
challenges is to address consumer use of water; http://www.gemi.org/water/procter.htm
- Texas Instruments (TI)
has found that developing “water balance” diagrams that map water
inflows, outflows and intermediate reuse between production and support
areas in a manufacturing plant provide valuable information for
improving water management and reducing costs; http://www.gemi.org/water/ti.htm
- United Agri Products,
a ConAgra Foods company, has pioneered an innovative service through
its mPOWER3 subsidiary that helps to improve agricultural productivity
while reducing water use and improving water quality; http://www.gemi.org/water/conagra.htm
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