Industrialists: What solutions to move towards water efficiency?
In 2022, France was once again hit by drought. This phenomenon is likely to recur and intensify. As a result, companies must adapt to limit their water consumption and avoid being shut down. From optimizing in-place cleaning to predictive software, let’s take a look at the solutions offered by Dametis with Alexandre Sailer, Sales Manager at Dametis.
“Companies facing the reality of a semi-arid France,” headlined Les Echos[1] in August 2022. Seven months later, in March 2023, President Emmanuel Macron presented his “water plan,” setting a “target of 10% water savings” by 2030[2]. Companies are at the heart of the change. In 2018, industrial and agricultural sectors consumed 5.4 billion cubic meters of freshwater per year. According to Alexandre Sailer, “faced with the risk of shortages, companies must reduce their water consumption.” A major challenge, but one for which solutions exist. Let’s see how to move towards water sobriety.
Hydro sobriety: what is it?
The term water sobriety is increasingly used, but what does it hide? Sobriety refers to moderation and the adjective “hydrique” refers to water. Water sobriety simply refers to a limitation of water consumption. In this article, we will see how industrial companies can implement this principle of water sobriety.
Table of Contents
> II. Carrying out work to correct
> III. Optimizing clean-in-place to reduce water consumption and pollution
> IV. An efficient wastewater treatment plant to move towards water sobriety
> V. Optimization and recycling, currently hindered by current regulations
I. Mapping your factory to measure and control it
“We only control what we measure,” emphasizes Alexandre. Therefore, his first recommendation to reduce water consumption is to understand it. It is necessary to “have a mapping of water uses in the company in order to understand how it works. This way, we can target discharges and needs.”
The collaborative and predictive software MyDametis [3] allows access to a company’s data 24/7 on a single interface, enabling the establishment of this mapping. This tool speeds up decision-making, enables tangible improvement in performance indicators, and therefore enhances control over water consumption.
“With the data collected, we found, with one of our clients, several losses; valves were not closed, machines out of order were still consuming water… This observation led to solutions being implemented. The amount of water used was thus halved.”
II. Perform work to correct
Several companies are already using MyDametis in this way, such as Agromousquetaires, Lactalis, and another international agri-food group.
III. Optimize clean-in-place to reduce water consumption and pollution
Dametis optimizes this cleaning process using three fundamental principles: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. To achieve this, we have three tools: BarCIP, to analyze the CIP operation; OptiClean, to measure its efficiency and reduce washing time, and Green CIP to reuse cleaning solutions indefinitely. These tools are developed in partnership with Elodys and its founder Olivier Barrault, who emphasizes that “focusing on decarbonization without considering water is only seeing the tip of the iceberg.”
IV. An efficient wastewater treatment plant to move towards water sobriety
MyDametis and the tools implemented to improve clean-in-place processes help reduce the amount of wastewater, and therefore the amount of water to be discharged into the environment. ” This equipment consumes between 3 and 6% of the total energy of a site,” reminds Mathias Welschbillig, an environmental expert. It is a first step towards water sobriety.
Continuing with environmental transition, Dametis offers to analyze and improve the efficiency of the wastewater treatment plant, in order to reduce its cost and water consumption, and also to install a methanization module. An investment with multiple benefits as it allows the production of biogas, a green energy, reduces the amount of effluents, and enables the resale of the sludge from methanization as fertilizer for farmers.
V. Optimization and recycling, currently hindered by current regulations
“Once consumption is reduced, it is important to think about reusing it,” summarizes Alexandre Sailer. Currently, “less than 1% of its wastewater is reused […], France is among the underperformers: the European average is around 7%,” recalls an article from Challenges, titled “Water: the industry will also have to embrace water sobriety,” published in January 2023[5].
However, these measures also require “government support,” recommends Alexandre Sailer. “Currently, in order to reuse all the water from its factory, an extremely secure process is required. It is not impossible, but very difficult to implement. The government must facilitate this and support industrial players with assistance. The administration must also establish a legal framework and regulatory controls to oversee the responsibility of the industrial sector in this practice. This is the only way we can progress rapidly.”
[2] https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2023/03/31/le-plan-eau-d-emmanuel-macron-est-avant-tout-un-appel-a-la-sobriete-de-tous_6167682_3244.html
[3] https://www.dametis.com/mydametis/
[4] https://www.dametis.com/limiter-votre-consommation-deau/
[5] https://www.challenges.fr/green-economie/eau-l-industrie-va-aussi-devoir-se-convertir-a-la-sobriete-hydrique_843288
