Manufacturing

• Manufacturing
• Commercial office buildings and shopping centres
• Hotels, clubs, restaurants and pubs
• Hospitals and health facilities
• Tertiary education facilities
• Schools
• Councils
• All business sectors

Each day Industrial and manufacturing customers in the Sydney region use more than 110 million litres of water every day (2007).

The distribution of water consumption within the manufacturing sector is shown below.

Click for a larger image

Manufacturers can save water by:

• identifying and fixing leaks
• installing sub-metering and monitoring to track water use trends
• improving the efficiency of water using equipment
• preventing leakage and wastage in amenities and improving amenity efficiency
• ensuring cooling towers are well maintained and water efficient

There are specific water saving opportunities in each manufacturing sector. To find out how the EDC Business Program has helped a few manufacturers in different industries to save water see our case studies.

The following information can also help manufacturing companies save water:

• Clean in place techniques (PDF - 249KB)
• Waterless conveyor lubricants (PDF - 334KB)
• Cooling towers (PDF - 134KB) . More detailed information is available in our Best practice guidelines for cooling towers (PDF - 1.19MB)
• Hybrid cooling towers (PDF - 77KB)
• Steam systems (PDF - 760KB)
• Public amenities (PDF - 288KB)
• Monitoring and maintenance (PDF - 105KB)
• Liquid vacuum pumps (PDF - 222KB)
• Spray nozzles (PDF - 97KB)
• Spray guns (PDF - 103KB)
• Leaks waste more than water (PDF - 309KB)
• Outdoor areas (PDF - 246KB)

Water Reuse

Manufacturing sites often present great opportunities for onsite water reuse. Industrial wastewater can sometimes be collected and filtered (eg. via. a membrane unit), treating it to the required quality.

Reuse water can potentially be used in:

• Cooling towers
• Vacuum Pumps
• Evaporative coolers
• Sanitation and wash down bays
• Truck washes

Sydney Water’s treatment options fact sheet (PDF - 3312KB) provides a good summary of the various filtration options available.

Food manufacturers can also save water by reusing water from an appropriate source. To do this food manufacturers will most likely need to undertake a risk assessment of the water source and its intended uses, and conduct trials to make sure the treatment process and its management works well and complies with guidelines and requirements.

Reusing wastewater can be an excellent way to reduce potable water use. It can be a costly and complicated process so it is always best to start your water conservation program with basic efficiency gains before exploring reuse projects.

Recycled Water

Sydney Water is actively pursuing major large scale recycled water schemes and localised recycling where it is practical and affordable.

Contact Us

Use our contact form for membership enquiries and questions about the program.