Download Water Transformed - Lecture 2.1

WATER TRANSFORMED:
SUSTAINABLE WATER SOLUTIONS FOR
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
MODULE B: ADAPTING TO CHANGES IN
WATER AVAILABILITY - INDUSTRIAL &
COMMERCIAL SECTORS
This online textbook provides free access to a comprehensive education and training package that
brings together the knowledge of how countries, specifically Australia, can adapt to climate change.
This resource has been developed formally as part of the Federal Government’s Department of Climate
Change’s Climate Change Adaptation Professional Skills program.
CHAPTER 2: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF MEASURING WATER
USAGE, IDENTIFYING WATER SAVINGS, AND RECYCLING
& WATER COLLECTION/STORAGE OPPORTUNITIES
LECTURE 2.1: THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER
SOLUTIONS
© The Natural Edge Project (‘TNEP’), 2009
Copyright of this material (Work) is owned by the members of the research team from The Natural Edge Project, based at Griffith
University and the Australian National University. The material contained in this document is released under a Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 License. According to the License, this document may be copied, distributed, transmitted and adapted by others, providing
the work is properly attributed as: ‘Smith, M., Hargroves, K., Desha, C. and Stasinopoulos, P. (2009) Water Transformed - Australia:
Sustainable Water Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation, The Natural Edge Project (TNEP), Australia.’
Document is available electronically at http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Sustainable_Water_Solutions_Portfolio.aspx.
Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the parties
involved in the development of this document do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents. Information,
recommendations and opinions expressed herein are not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or
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and all persons acting for the Commonwealth preparing this report accept no liability for the accuracy of or inferences from the material
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relying on this material.
Acknowledgements
The Work was produced by The Natural Edge Project supported by funding from the Australian Government Department
of Climate Change under its ‘Climate Change Adaptation Skills for Professionals Program’. The development of this
publication has been supported by the contribution of non-salary on-costs and administrative support by the Griffith
University Urban Research Program, under the supervision of Professor Brendan Gleeson, and the Australian National
University Fenner School of Environment and Society and Engineering Department, under the supervision of Professor
Stephen Dovers.
Chief Investigator and Project Manager: Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves, Research Fellow, Griffith University.
Principle Researchers: Dr Michael Smith, Research Fellow, ANU; Cheryl Desha, Research Intensive Lecturer, Griffith
University, and Peter Stasinopoulos, Research Officer Griffith University.
Research Support: Angie Reeves, Research Officer Griffith University, and Stacey Hargroves, Professional Editor, Griffith
University.
Peer Review
This chapter was peer reviewed by Alison Scotland; ILEP Project Officer, Every Drop Counts Business Program, Sydney
Water Corporation, Anntonette Joseph, Director, Urban Water Efficiency Initiatives, Commonwealth Department of
Environment, Water, Heritage and The Arts; Nick Edgerton, AMP Capital Sustainable Share Fund (formerly the Institute
for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia);. Cheryl Davis, International Water Association and
San Francisco Water Utilities Commission, Adj. Prof Paul Perkins, Australian National University, Chair, Environment
Industry Action Agenda and Barton Group; Dr Barry Newell: ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society and
Facilitator of ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society’s Climate and Water Integration Group.
Review for this program was also received from: Alex Fearnside, Leader of the Sustainability Team, Melbourne City
Council; Anna MacKenzie, ACT representative, Australian Association of Environmental Education and Deputy Principal
Campbell Primary School; Anntonette Joseph, Director – Urban Water Efficiency Initiatives, Commonwealth Department
of Environment, Water, Heritage and The Arts; Barry Coker and Jeffrey Briggs, St Andrews Hospital, Brisbane; Caleb
Furner, Sydney Water Corporation; Carl Binns, Sydney Water Corporation; Cheryl Davis, International Water Association;
Claire Hammond, Sydney Water Corporation; David Dumaresq, ANU Fenner School for Environment and Society, Senior
Lecturer Human Ecology, Agro-ecology, and Sustainable Systems; Dennis Lee, Sydney Water Corporation; Glenn
MacMillan, Genesis Now Pty Ltd; Jill Grant, Director Sustainable Development, Commonwealth Department of
Resources, Energy and Tourism; Karen Jacobson, Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism;
Kevin Moon, Institute of Hospital Engineering Australia; Kieran Coupe, Manager, MeterMate, Water and Energy
Managers; Para K Parameshwaran, Sydney Water Corporation; Marguerite Renouf, Director - UNEP Working Group for
Cleaner Production, University of Queensland; Phil Smith, President of the Australian Association of Environmental
Education; Rob McKenna, Energy Saving Specialist, Water & Energy Programs, NSW Department of Environment and
Climate Change; Sally Armstrong, Sydney Water Corporation; Stan Scahill, The Institution of Engineers Australia
(Biomedical Engineering College); Stephen Fahey, Environment Officer (Energy & Water), ANU Green; Victoria Hart,
Facilitator and Program Director, Sustainability Victoria; and Vivian Filling, Australia Industry Group.
Enquires should be directed to: Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves (www.naturaledgeproject.net/contact.aspx)
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
Adapting to Changes in Water Availability Industrial & Commercial Sectors
Lecture 2.1: The Economic Case for Sustainable Water
Solutions
Educational Aim
The aim of this lecture is to explain the economic case for sustainable water solutions and to
provide an overview of the understandings, facts and figures needed to properly comprehend the
opportunity presented by such initiatives. Historically, water and wastewater prices have been low,
and hence investing in water savings has not been high on business’s or governments agenda.
However this is changing in Australia and around the world, due to ongoing droughts and the threat
of reduced water availability from climate change. Hence there is now growing demand for capacity
building courses in the operational and technical aspects of implementing water saving
opportunities and productivity improvements. However undergraduate courses are only slowly
being updated with such content. Before expanding on these areas we first focus on outlining the
key components of the economic case for water demand reduction, to better prepare design,
engineering and technical staff to communicate the opportunities, and policy makers and business
leaders to identify the benefits.
Learning Points
1. Freshwater is not only essential for life but it is also critical for every kind of economic
development activity across all countries, ranging from primary sector activities (agriculture,
forestry and mining) to industrial production, energy generation or service sector development.
Hence, water is a necessary condition for business and economic prosperity, with CSIRO
cautioning that, ‘If we continue to waste water as we do now, water will be the limiting factor in
Australia's economic development.’1 Over the years businesses have become accustomed to
cheap and plentiful water supplies. However prolonged droughts in many parts of the world,
along with the current and forecast impacts of climate change, is going to change this situation.
Climate change is already changing the water cycle and affecting water availability. Further
rising temperatures will boost evaporation rates leading to altered rainfall patterns, as well as
reduce snow pack and glacier levels that feed into many of the world’s river systems.
2. Climate change is set to result in decreases in rainfall across Australia, exacerbating already
serious drought conditions in many areas. In Perth for instance, inflows into reservoirs have
already decreased by 50 per cent since the mid twentieth century while domestic water demand
continues to increase. In the south-eastern states, near-record lows in reservoir water levels
were recorded in 2002-2003 due to low rainfall and high temperatures.2 The most recent five
year inflow into the Murray River was the lowest ever on record.3 Internationally, as the IPCC
has stated,
1
CSIRO (2001) Water Limit to Australia 's Economic Growth, CSIRO Media Release, Ref 2001/151, 20 June.
Pittock, B. (ed) (2003) Climate Change: An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts, Commonwealth of Australia, pp1-3.
3
Bates, B.C., Kundzewicz, Z.W., Wu, S. and Palutikof, J.P. (eds) (2008) ‘Climate Change and Water’, Technical Paper of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva, p119.
2
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
“Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from
population growth and economic and land-use change, including urbanisation. On a
regional scale, mountain snow pack, glaciers and small ice caps play a crucial role in
freshwater availability. Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover
over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water
availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by
meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes), where more
than one-sixth of the world population currently lives.”4
3. Decreases in rainfall will provide a constraint on the development of the farming community and
significantly decrease production in the Murray Darling food bowl of Australia. Without an
appropriate water management strategy, Australia’s economic production will fall 12 per cent by
2030, 49 per cent by 2050 and 92 per cent by 2100. 5 Furthermore, there will be costs
associated with higher occurrences of algal blooms and from reduced water quality (such as
changes to levels of dissolved oxygen, nutrient loading, and salinity, as well as other water
chemistry indicators) resulting from higher water temperatures, higher evaporation levels and
reduced stream flows.6
4. At the business or organisation level there are a range of economic reasons to adopt improved
water management strategies. As well as reducing water costs, such a focus can rapidly deliver
a range of secondary economic benefits such as improving water supply security and reducing
the costs of energy, chemicals, labour and maintenance activities that are associated with water
use. If we consider the food processing industry, secondary benefits from reducing water
demand include reduced: treatment of incoming water to required levels, heating or cooling of
water, treatment of wastewater prior to disposal, disposal of wastewater, storage and pumping
of water onsite, maintenance of equipment (e.g. pumps and pipe-work) and capital depreciation
of assets. Hence the true cost to business for a kilolitre of water can be twice as much as the
purchase price for cold water and five times as much for water heated to 80°C.7
5. Together with the direct and indirect economic benefits, companies and organisations that
undertake water productivity improvement strategies often also experience a boost in staff
morale, increased creativity and innovation, and improved internal communication. On the other
hand, there are direct financial consequences of poor water management that are set to
increase over the coming decades, leading to not only future costs but also loss of company
reputation as water management is often also an environmental and social issue. 8 As such,
poor water management can lead to loss of investment attractiveness, reduced shareholder
value, impacts on licence to operate and challenges in attracting and retaining the best staff.
6. Significant cost effective water saving and productivity improvement opportunities exist in all
major sectors due to a range of innovations in technologies, processes and strategies that have
emerged in the last twenty years (see Table 2.1.2). Most of these opportunities have not been
captured as the true cost of water has historically been heavily subsidised to farmers and
industry. This is now changing, as water prices and wastewater prices are rising due to rising
4
Pachauri, R.K. and Reisinger, A. (Eds.) (2007) Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland..
5
Garnaut, R. (2008) Final Report to the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia, Garnaut Climate Change Review,
Chapter 6: Impacts of Climate Change on the Australian Economy.
6
Garnaut, R. (2008) Garnaut Climate Change Review Final Report, Garnaut Climate Change Review, Australia.
7
Pagan, R., Prasad, P., Price, N. and Kemp, E. (2004) Food Processing Eco-Efficiency Manual, UNEP Working Group for Cleaner
Production in Food, Australia Industry Group.
8
Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2009) The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st
Century, Earthscan, London.
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
demand and drought in Australia. Also, in some Australian states, businesses above a certain
size and local governments must now undertake and produce water plans. In Queensland,
medium to large water-using businesses are now required by law to achieve 25 per cent water
savings due to drought-related pressures.9
7. In most sectors, water savings and productivity improvements in the order of 50-95 per cent
have been shown to be cost effective (as shown in Table 2.1.3), with many companies reaping
the associated rewards. However such achievements are not possible without senior level
commitment and engagement with the water management process. This lecture, and the overall
program, presents a range of supporting evidence to encourage such a commitment based on
the potential economic opportunities for an organisation, rather than waiting for growing costs
related to water consumption and disposal to force action.
8. Companies that are achieving such rewards often create a ‘Water Committee’. These ‘Water
Committees’ work directly with representatives across the key areas of the business and with
stakeholders to develop strategies and work plans to improve water management. This means
that adequate human and financial resources are essential to implement water management
initiatives. Failure to provide adequate training and capacity building can jeopardise the
outcomes. Relevant responsibilities for water management across different areas of the
company or organisation should be built clearly into job descriptions, and even reflected in
bonuses or incentives. This helps to ensure that staff are motivated to, and rewarded for, taking
a proactive rather than reactive approach to water management.
9. A crucial understanding in developing water management strategies is to take a whole systems
approach, as most initiatives deal with only some elements of a water consuming system, not
the whole system. Taking an incremental or localised approach is a large part of the reason why
even proactive efforts in the past have not captured the true economic potential, leading to
reduced organisational attention. Over the last twenty years, engineers using a whole systems
approach to identifying water efficiency opportunities have achieved large water improvements
with strong rates of return on investment.
9
QWC (undated) Business Restrictions, Queensland Water Commission, Available at http://www.qwc.qld.gov.au/Business+restrictions
Accessed 1 October 2009
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
Brief Background Reading
Freshwater is not only essential for life but it is also critical for every kind of economic development
activity across all countries, ranging from primary sector activities (agriculture, forestry and mining)
to industrial production, energy generation or service sector development. Hence, water is a
necessary condition for business and economic prosperity. Over the years businesses have
become accustomed to cheap and plentiful water supplies. However prolonged droughts in many
parts of the world, along with the current and forecast impacts of climate change, is going to
change this situation. Climate change is already changing the water cycle and affecting water
availability, and further rising temperatures will boost evaporation rates leading to altered rainfall
patterns and reduced snow pack and glacier levels that feed into many of the worlds river systems.
Hence climate change will have serious consequences for many business sectors, particularly in
the agricultural sector. Furthermore many countries heavily dependent on glacier melt-water during
the dry season will be affected by climate change, with the potential to affect over 250 million
people in China, significant parts of the Indian sub-continent, and at least 50 million people in the
Andes.10
Virtually all glaciers are showing substantial melting in China, where spring stream-flows
have advanced by nearly one month since records began. In the tropical Andes in South
America, the area covered by glaciers has been reduced by nearly one-quarter in the past
30 years. Some small glaciers are likely to disappear completely in the next decade given
current trends.11 Up to 40 per cent of agriculture in Andean valleys relies on glacier meltwater supplies.12 Parts of the developed world that rely on mountain snowmelt (Western
USA, Canadian Prairies, Western Europe, South East Australia) will also have their summer
water supply affected, unless storage capacity is increased to capture the ‘early water’.
Sir Nicholas Stern, The Stern Review, 200613
Climate change will also reduce agricultural yields in OECD countries. The Stern Review stated
that this would be the case for Southern Europe, the USA and Australia.14 An Australian study by
Professor Garnaut found that over the next 100 years, unmitigated climate change is forecast to
devastate the Murray Darling Basin, the food bowl of Australia.15 The study found that without
dedicated efforts to reduce water demand from irrigation, climate change would result in economic
production falling by 12 per cent by 2030, 49 per cent by 2050, and as much as 92 per cent by
2100. Such impacts would have a significant economic effect on the Australian economy. 16
Australia has been one of the first OECD nations to have a significant climate change induced
reduction in water availability and food production, and the Australian government estimates the
drought shaved 0.75 of a percentage from Australia's GDP in 2006. Drought has existed in many
parts of rural Australia now since 2000 and by 2008, most of the 50,000-plus farmers in the Murray
Darling Basin of Australia are operating on less than 20 per cent of their normal water allocations.
10
Barnett, T.P., Adam, J.C. and Lettenmaier, D.P. (2005) 'Potential Impacts of a Warming Climate on Water Availability in SnowDominated Regions', Nature, no 438, pp303-309.
11
Coudrain, A., Francou, B., et al. (2005) 'Glacier Shrinkage in the Andes and Consequences for Water Resources', Hydrological
Sciences Journal, no 50, pp925-932.
12
Nagy, G., et al. (2006) 'Understanding the Potential Impact of Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean', Report prepared
for the UK Stern Review.
13
Stern, N. (2006) Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Chapter 4..
14
Pauchari, R. (2007) ‘Coping with Climate Change: Is Development in India and the World Sustainable?’, 2007 K R Narayanan Oration,
rspas.anu.edu.au/papers/narayanan/2007oration.pdf, accessed 16 November 2007.
15
Garnaut, R. (2008) Final Report to the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia, Garnaut Climate Change
Review, Chapter 6.
16
Garnaut, R. (2008) Final Report to the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia, Garnaut Climate Change
Review, Chapter 6.
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
Already farmers in the Murray Darling Basin are pruning and cutting down significant parts of their
orchards to try to survive the drought. Food production is down dramatically in water affected
sectors such as cotton, wine and dairy. Mining in Australia has also been constrained due to the
drought,17 and significant water restrictions in capital cities have forced businesses across all
sectors to start to improve water management practices.
Even without climate change, sustainable water solutions are needed because in many parts of the
world freshwater extraction rates are exceeding natural water replenishment rates. To achieve a
steady increase in global food production to match the growth in demand for food, countries have
relied on irrigation from drilling bores and pumping freshwater from groundwater supplies. However,
almost all of the world's wells have falling water levels and declining yield, and already many have
run dry. A 2006 World Bank study reports that 15 per cent of India’s food supply is produced by
mining groundwater.18 This means that the 175 million Indians fed with grain produced using water
from irrigation wells risk going hungry, as current estimates suggest that these groundwater
supplies will be severely depleted within a matter of decades. This 2006 World Bank study warned
that India will face a severe water crisis by 2020 if the government, business and farmers do not
work together to change reduce water demand.19 In China, the challenges are equally significant.
The northern agricultural areas of China are virtually drying out. The water table under the North
China Plain, which produces half of China's wheat and a third of the corn, is falling at an alarming
rate.20 Under Hebei Province, in the heart of the North China Plain, the water level in the deep
aquifer is falling at a rate of 3 metres each year.21 The decline of the water table has led to wells
drying up, which means deeper wells have to be drilled. The consequent increase in pumping costs
has forced some farmers off their land, while the demand for groundwater in cities and industry has
continued to grow. The wheat crop, grown mostly in semiarid northern China, is particularly
vulnerable to water shortages. This pattern of overuse of groundwater is repeated now in numerous
countries.22
Significant cost effective water saving and productivity improvement opportunities exist in all
sectors due to a range of innovations in technologies, processes and strategies that have emerged
in the last twenty years (see Table 2.1.2). Most of these opportunities have not been captured as
the true cost of water has historically been heavily subsidised to farmers and industry. Water is so
cheap that in many parts of the world it costs almost nothing for farmers per mega-litre of water
they use, as shown in Figure 2.1.1. Additionally, many nations have subsidized the costs of
pumping groundwater for agriculture, leading to significant wastage. Water usage by industry and
urban businesses, while more expensive than for agriculture, is still very cheap. Water usage costs
represent less than 2 per cent of total costs of most businesses and households. So, as with
agriculture, the lack of a strong price signal has meant most opportunities to reduce water demand
or improve the productivity of its use have been largely ignored in the past.
17
Australian Mineral Council (2007) Strategic Water Management: in the Minerals Sector, Australian Minerals Council, Australia.
The World Bank (2005) India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future, The World Bank, Washington DC.
19
The World Bank (2005) India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future, The World Bank, Washington DC.
20
Ma, M. (2001) ‘Northern Cities Sinking as Water Table Falls’, South China Morning Post., 11 August 2001.
21
World Bank (2001) China: Agenda for Water Sector Strategy for North China, World Bank, Washington, DC, ppvii, xi.
22
Brown, L. (2008) Plan B. Mobilizing to Save Civilization, The Earth Policy Institute.
18
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
Figure 2.1.1 Comparison on Household, Industrial and Agricultural, Industrial and Household
Water Prices for a selection of OECD countries
Source: OECD (2004)23
Improved water management also leads to significant energy savings from reduced handling,
treatment and disposal of water, thus improving the return on investment for water management
initiatives. In addition to these, there are other hidden savings from water efficiency investments in
reduced maintenance, chemical and labour costs. The true cost of water includes much more than
just the purchase price.24 It also includes the costs of treatment of incoming water, heating or
cooling, treatment of wastewater, disposal of wastewater, pumping, maintenance (e.g. pumps and
corrosion of pipe-work and equipment) and capital depreciation. Table 2.1.1 provides an example
of evaluating the full costs of water at ambient temperature and of hot water to businesses in the
food processing industry. A study by the Australia Industry Group found that, while the purchase
cost of water in Australia is approximately AUD$1.13, the true cost is actually AUD$2.33 for water
at ambient temperature and AUD$5.13 for water heated to 80°C, as shown in Table 2.1.1.
23
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004) OECD Environmental Strategy: 2004 Review of Progress, OECD,
Paris.
24
Cohen, R., Ortez, K. and Pinkstaff, C. (2009) Making Every Drop Work: Increasing Water Efficiency in California’s Commercial,
Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Sector, Natural Resources Defense Council.
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Table 2.1.1 Example of the true cost of ambient and of hot water ($/kL)
Purchase
1$1.13
Wastewater treatment2
$0.75
Wastewater pumping
$0.05
Wastewater discharge (volume charge)
$0.40
TRUE COST FOR AMBIENT WATER
$2.33
Heating to 80oC3
$2.80
TRUE COST OF HOT WATER
$5.13
1Purchase
2Based
3Costs
cost based on Brisbane Water supply costs
on assumption of typical treatment costs of an anaerobic digester
for heating to 80oC using steam produced by a gas boiler
Source: UNEP Cleaner Production (200425)
There have been numerous technical innovations that now enable 50-90 per cent water savings, a
sample of which is shown in Table 2.1.2. Companies that take a whole system approach to
capturing such opportunities are achieving remarkable improvements across all major sectors, as
shown in Table 2.1.3, and expanded in the remaining lectures of this Module. Companies are also
increasingly undertaking onsite water recycling measures and finding that this is particularly
profitable as many processes do not require potable water.26
Table 2.1.2 Enabling Technologies to reduce Water Demand
Sector
Buildings
Commercial
Buildings
Enabling Technologies

Various low flow showerhead designs exist to reduce water consumption by between 50-75%,27
resulting in sizable reductions in water consumption along with the requirement for water
heating.

Low-flow aerators reduce faucet water flow by 30-50% and can also reduce the energy costs of
heating water by up to 50%.

Water efficient appliances such as front loading domestic washing machines are 40-75% more
efficient than top loading options.

Toilets that use 6/3 litre dual flush systems are capable of reducing water usage by 67%
compared with conventional models.28

Waterless urinals use liquid-repellent coatings and a lighter-than-urine biodegradable liquid to
trap odours, and can save between 150,000 - 230,000 litres per year.29

Ultra-efficient water urinals can flush with as little as a half a litre.

Hybrid Dry Air/Water cooling systems for large buildings have been optimised to reduce typical
consumption of water by as much as 75%.30
25
Pagan, R., Prasad, P., Price, N. and Kemp, E. (2004) Food Processing Eco-Efficiency Manual, UNEP Working Group for Cleaner
Production in Food, Australia Industry Group
26
United States Environmental Protection Agency (undated) ‘Watersense: Businesses’, epa.gov/watersense/tips/bus.htm, accessed 13
August 2009.
27
von Weizacker, E., Lovins, A.B. and Lovins, L. H. (1997) Factor 4: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, Earthscan, London.
28
Caroma (undated) ‘Caroma Dual Flush System’, www.caromauk.com/innovate/idea_1.htm, accessed 12 July 2009.
29
Hawken, P., Lovins, ,A.B. and Lovins, L.H. (1999) Natural Capitalism, Earthscan, London, p221.
30
von Weizsäcker, E., Hargroves, K., Smith, M., Desha, C. and Stasinopoulos, P. (2009) Factor 5: Transforming the Global Economy
through 80% Increase in Resource Productivity, Earthscan, London.
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Commercial
Laundromats

Highly efficient washers can reduce water consumption by 35-50% and achieve energy savings
of up to 50%, with highly efficient washers requiring 50% less detergent.
Restaurants

Boiler-less compartment food steamers have been developed that use 90% less water.

Water-efficient commercial dishwashers can save 25% of water usage. Payback periods for
installing small efficient commercial dishwashers range between 1-4 years.

In Asian restaurants, waterless wok stoves that use air instead of water for cooling can save
nearly 90% of water consumption.31

Pre-rinse spray valves account for 14% of water consumption in commercial kitchens.
Replacing a traditional pre-rinse spray valve can save between 25-80% of this water.

Steam sterilizers are utilized widely in hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and research
institutions to disinfect surgical instruments in hospitals, research and development laboratories
and in the manufacture of products where sterilization is essential. Most sterilizers can be
retrofitted with heat exchangers to cool condensate without the need to dilute the hot
condensate water with tap water thus enabling the water to be reused again.

Traditional X-Ray film processing generally uses a constant flow of potable water to cool the
machine and develop the film, and 98% of water use can be achieved by recycling this water for
use in the equipment.
Medical and
Health
Source: Complied from NDRC (2009)32 unless otherwise noted
Table 2.1.3 Leading Case Studies demonstrating the potential for Water Efficiency Improvements
Sectors
Leading Case Studies
Residential
Buildings
As shown in Table 2.1.2 the use of water efficient appliances, toilets, taps and showerheads can
improve the water efficiency for an average home by over 60%.33 Large rainwater tanks and
greywater recycling systems can further reduce demand for potable water, as can designing
gardens to be drought tolerant.34 Currumbin Ecovillage has shown that through using these
strategies it is also possible to achieve self-sufficiency for a residential estate.35
Commercial/
Studies show that roughly a third of water usage in office buildings is through leaks, amenities
(toilets, showers etc) and cooling towers. It is highly cost effective to stop waste of water through
leakage. As Table 2.1.2 shows, technologies now exist to enable 80% or better efficiency
improvements in amenities and cooling towers. Hence in theory, it is technically possible to
achieve large water savings on most office/commercial buildings. Melbourne University's new
Faculty of Economics and Commerce building shows what is possible through combining these
technologies to achieve 90% reductions. The building achieves this through reducing cooling
demand by utilising natural ventilation, using chilled beam cooling technology, and by the
Office Buildings
31
Sydney Water (2009) Waterless Woks: Factsheet,
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Publications/FactSheets/Wok_stove_fact_sheet.pdf , accessed 10 April 2009
32
Cohen, R., Ortez, C. and Pinkstaff, C. (2009) Making Every Drop Work; Increasing Water Efficiency in California’s Commercial,
Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Sector, NRDC.
33
Stasinopoulos, P., Smith, M., Hargroves, K. and Desha, C. (2008) Whole System Design: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable
Engineering, Earthscan, London, and The Natural Edge Project, Australia, www.naturaledgeproject.net/Whole_System_Design.aspx,
accessed 13 August 2009.
34
Troy, P. (ed.) (2008) Troubled Waters: Confronting the Water Crisis in Australia’s Cities, ANU E Press.
35
The Ecovillage (undated) ‘Sustainability Objectives’, theecovillage.com.au/site/index.php/C4/, accessed 18 April 2009.
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Water Transformed: Sustainable Water Solutions
installation of Muller 3C Hybrid Coolers, combined with rainwater harvesting and greywater
reuse.36 (See Lecture 2.4)
Paper
Manufacture
Visy, through its Australian paper and pulp mill in Tumut, New South Wales has achieved an 80%
reduction in the average water consumed by pulp and paper mills compared to elsewhere in the
world. In accordance with its site based ISO14001 certified environmental management system, no
water is discharged off the site, and treated wastewater is used for the irrigation of pastures.37 (See
Lecture 3.1)
ICT Manufacture
With manufacturing plants all over the world, and many in very dry places, Intel has invested
US$100 million on water efficiency measures, saving more than enough water to supply 180,000
homes for a year. Intel’s 1000 acre (405 hectare) operation in Arizona includes processing
equipment that uses 75% less water than the industry average (from 25 to 8 million litres per day).
Additionally, Intel constructed a system that treats wastewater and then injects it into the local
aquifer, treating and injecting more than 3.5 billion gallons (13.2 billion litres) of drinking-quality
water into the aquifer since its inception in 2000.38 (See Lecture 3.1)
Chemical
Manufacture
Since 2002, Qenos, a leading chemicals and plastics company, has reduced its annual freshwater
consumption by over 30%, saving 1.2 billion litres of water per year. Further initiatives are planned
with local water utilities to provide Qenos with 2 billion litres a year of Class A recycled water. This
project - combined with Qenos’ planned facilities for onsite biological treatment and reuse of olefins
sour water, and stormwater collection improvements - will make Qenos’ dependency on potable
water negligible.39 (See Lecture 3.1)
Beverage
Industry
Fosters Brewery at Yalata, Queensland has achieved a 75% improvement in water efficiency since
1993.40 Breweries, on average, use about 6-8 litres of water per litre of product, but the brewery at
Yalata only uses around 2 litres of water per litre of beer.41 Pacific Coca-Cola has reduced its can
line’s need for rinse-water by 79%, using air instead of water to clean the insides of cans. 42 (see
Lecture 3.2)
Food
Processing
Oberti Olives olive processing plant in Madera, California processes in the order of 128 tons of
olives per day, involving washing, curing, storing and packaging. Through installing a best practice
membrane filtration system to enable water reuse, the company has reduced its freshwater use by
91%, equating to more than 3.5 million litres per day.43
Steel
Manufacture
In the steel sector, water is used primarily for cooling and environmental treatment in the
steelmaking process. There are two main methods for making steel: oxygen blast furnace (OBF)
and electric arc furnace (EAF). Compared to OBF methods, EAF methods use 85% less water,
and 70% less energy per ton of steel.44 BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla Steelworks in Australia
Muller Industries (2009) ‘5 Stars for Melbourne University’, Muller Industries News, April 2009.
AusCID (2003) Sustainability Framework for the Future of Australia’s Infrastructure Handbook, Australian Council for Infrastructure and
Development (Contributions by Toyne, P., Tate, A., Hargroves, K. and Smith, M.).
38
Cohen, R., Ortez, C. and Pinkstaff, C. (2009) Making Every Drop Work: Increasing Water Efficiency in California’s Commercial,
Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Sector, NRDC.
39
City West Water (undated) ‘Water Use Efficiency Project: Ongoing Efforts at Qenos’,
www.citywestwater.com.au/business/docs/Qenos-Case_Study.pdf, accessed 13 August 2009.
40
The Fosters Group (2007) ‘Yatala Brewery: Water Usage Facts’, www.fosters.com.au/about/docs/Yatala_Water_Fact_Sheet.pdf,
accessed 19 June 2009.
41
Davis, C. (2007) ‘Crystal Balling Water for Industry’, Industrial Water Supplement, Waste Management and Environment (WME)
Magazine, November, pp30-31, www.wme.com.au/magazine/downloads/IndustrialWater_Nov07_WME.pdf, accessed 1 June 2009.
42
Hawken, P., Lovins, A.B. and Lovins, L.H. (1999) Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Earthscan, London,
p225.
43
The Pacific Institute (1999) Sustainable Use of Water California Success Stories, The Pacific Institute.
44
von Weizsäcker, E., Lovins, A. and Lovins, H. (1997) Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, Earthscan, London.
36
37
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have shown that a 5-fold improvement in water efficiency can also be achieved in OBF steel
making, reducing water use from 55 to 9 million litres per day.45 (See Lecture 3.3)
Aluminium
Manufacture
In the aluminium sector, water is largely used for cooling and environmental treatment in the
aluminium smelting process. Alcoa, in their European Mill Products (EMP) business, which
includes casthouse and rolling mills, has achieved a 95% reduction in water consumption through
installing a closed-loop system that recirculates process water, and has committed to 70%
reductions in potable water use throughout all global operations. (See Lecture 3.3)
Tourism &
Hospitality
The Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove resort, Queensland, Australia has reduced water use by more
than 65%, from 140 million litres in 1996 to 54 million litres in 2000, saving a recorded
AUD$85,372 per year.46 (See Lecture 4.1)
Medical and
Health
Saint Petersburg hospital in Florida, USA has saved 50% of its water, 47 while St Andrew’s War
Memorial Hospital in Brisbane, Australia has reduced its water use by 68%, from 105 to 33 million
litres per year, in just four years.48 (See Lecture 4.2)
University
Campuses
The Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia reduced water consumption by
50% between 2004 to 2007, equating to 200 million litres per year, and has since reduced its
consumption by a further 5-10% across its campuses.49 The University of Queensland, Brisbane,
Australia has reduced water usage by 48% since 2003.50 The University of California’s Santa
Barbara campus reduced water usage by nearly 50% between 1987 and 1994, saving US$3.7
million, excluding energy and maintenance savings.51 (See Lecture 4.3)
Source: Compiled by TNEP (2009)
In recognition of the importance of CEO leadership in this area, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon and a group of committed businesses officially launched the ‘CEO Water Mandate’ in 2007;
designed to assist companies in developing a comprehensive approach to water management. 52
This initiative provides documentation to provide evidence and strategic understanding to underpin
a pro-active approach to sustainable water management and reporting. The CEO Water Mandate is
also developing operational documentation to assist companies to address a range of specific
water management issues, as discussed in Lecture 2.2. Despite this being a relatively new
initiative, many CEOs of companies across most sectors of the economy have signed up. A
particularly challenging aspect of developing and implementing water management programs to
achieve water savings is the level of investment in staff capacity building. Staff training and skills
development can be complimented by a range of incentives such as aligning bonuses to water
savings, and in doing so ensure that staff are both motivated to act and are recognised for their
efforts. Experience shows that there will be resistance to change, particularly if operations and
maintenance personnel are not involved in developing new water savings opportunities. Thus there
Hird, W. (2005) ‘Recycled water - case study: BlueScope Steel, Port Kembla Steelworks’, Presented at the International Conference
on Integrated Concepts on Water Recycling, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 14–17 February 2005.
46
SaveWater (undated) ‘Case Studies’, http://www.savewater.com.au/how-to-save-water/in-business/hospitality/case-studies, accessed
2 August 2008.
47
South Florida Water Management District (undated) ‘Hospital case study: A St. Petersburg hospital saves 50 percent of its water use!’,
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/waterwork/casestudy-hospital.html, accessed 7 August 2009.
48
St Andrews War Memorial Hospital (2008) ‘St Andrew’s Hospital Beats All Expectations in Reducing Water Usage’,
http://www.uchealth.com.au/sawmh/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53, accessed 21 June 2009.
49
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane - QUT (2009) ‘Sustainability@QUT’
http://www.fmd.qut.edu.au/pdfs/Sustainability_Feb_2009_FINAL.pdf, accessed 13 August 2009.
50
University of Queensland, Queensland – QUT (2009) ‘UQ Saves More Water’, http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=18669,
accessed 13 August 2009.
51
The Pacific Institute (1999) Sustainable Use of Water California Success Stories, The Pacific Institute.
52
UN Global Compact - CEO Water Mandate at
http://www.pacinst.org/topics/globalization_and_environment/ceo_water_mandate/ceo_water_mandate.pdf accessed 16 October 2009
45
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are significant benefits for companies involving staff in their water management planning and
processes. Opportunities are often missed when companies fail to tap into the well of innovative
ideas staff may have about water efficiency.
Along with business benefits, there are also significant economic benefits from water saving
programs for governments and water utilities. Reducing water demand can delay the need for the
construction of new dams and new treatment plants, as well as reduce the maintenance of the
pipes and associated infrastructure used to deliver and remove water. Also water savings programs
reduce energy consumption and the associated greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of
energy to pump, treat, and pressurise water systems. Research led by Professor Stuart White at
the University of Technology Sydney Institute for Sustainable Futures, indicates that in cities and
towns facing water shortages, investment in reducing water demand can result in water savings of
greater than 30 per cent at a unit cost that is less than supply augmentation costs, yielding net
present value economic benefits in excess of AUD$100m for some capital cities.53 A significant
study of California came to a similar conclusion. The 2003 report Waste Not, Want Not: The
Potential for Urban Water Conservation in California54 found that, despite the progress already
made in improving water efficiency, one-third of California’s current urban water use can be saved
through conservation and efficiency in the residential, commercial, institutional and industrial
sectors. At least 85 per cent of these savings are at costs below what it would cost to tap into new
sources of supply and come without the social, environmental, and economic impacts that any
major water project would bring. Studies show that improving water productivity in rural areas also
provides a positive GDP return to the region.55 A 2009 study56 showed for the US economy that,

The economic output benefits of investments in water efficiency range between US$2.5 and
US$2.8 million per million dollars of direct investment.

GDP benefits range between US$1.3 and US$1.5 million per million dollars of direct investment.

Employment potential ranges between 15 and 22 jobs per million dollars of direct investment.

Applying this model to the US economy, direct investment on the order of US$10 billion in
water/energy efficiency could boost U.S. GDP by US$13 to US$15 billion and employment by
150,000 to 220,000 jobs and could save between 20 and 40 trillion litres of water, with resulting
energy reductions as well.
53
White, I. (2009) Personal Communication with Professor Ian White, Australian National University, 1 August 2009 .
Gleick, P.H., Haasz, D., Henges-Jeck, C., Srinivasan, V., Wolff, G., Cushing, K.K. and Mann, A. (2003) Waste Not, Want Not: The
Potential for Urban Water Conservation in California, The Pacific Institute, Oakland, California, USA.
55
Centre for International Economics (2004) Socio-Economic Assessment of Water Efficiency Investments in the Murrumbidgee Valley,
The Pratt Water Initiative.
56
Mitchell, D., Beecher, J., Chesnutt, T. and Pekelney, D. (2008) Transforming Water: Water Efficiency as Stimulus and Long-Term
Investment, Alliance for Water Efficiency, Chicago, USA.
54
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Key References
Sydney Water (undated) ‘Water Efficiency In Your Business - Best Practice Guides and
Publications’,
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/InYourBusiness/EDCPublications/BestPractise.cfm,
accessed 10 April 2010
Sydney Water (undated) ‘Water Efficiency In Your Business - Fact Sheets and Brochures’,
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/InYourBusiness/EDCPublications/BestPractise.cfm,
accessed 10 April 2010
Sydney Water (undated) ‘Water Efficiency In Your Business - Business Case Studies’
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/InYourBusiness/EDCPublications/CaseStudies.cfm
accessed 10 April 2010.
Save Water (undated) ‘Saving Water in Business’, http://www.savewater.com.au/how-to-savewater/in-business, accessed 16 October 2009.
Victorian Government (2007) ‘What is business doing to save water?’,
http://www.ourwater.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2502/Water_Industry_brochure.pdf,
accessed 16 October 2009.
Cohen, R., Ortez, K. and Pinkstaff, C. (2009) Making Every Drop Work: Increasing Water Efficiency
in California’s Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Sector, Natural Resources Defence
Council.
Gleick, P.H., Haasz, D., Henges-Jeck, C., Srinivasan, V., Wolff, G., Cushing, K.K. and Mann, A.
(2003) Waste Not, Want Not: The Potential for Urban Water Conservation in California, The Pacific
Institute, Oakland, California, USA.
Waste Management and Environment (WME) (2007) ‘Industrial Water Supplement’, WME
Magazine, November 2007.
Waste Management and Environment (WME) (2008) ‘Industrial Water Supplement’, WME
Magazine, November 2008.
CEDA (2007) Water that works: Sustainable water management in the commercial sector, CEDA.
http://ceda.com.au/member/nnx/publications/other/docs/water_that_works.pdf,
accessed
16
October 2009.
UN Global Compact - CEO Water Mandate at
http://www.pacinst.org/topics/globalization_and_environment/ceo_water_mandate/ceo_water_man
date.pdf accessed 16 October 2009
UNEP FI’s (undated) ‘Research on Water Issues and Business Risks and Opportunities’,
http://www.unepfi.org/publications/water/, accessed 16 October 2009
Global Reporting Initiative (undated) ‘Water protocol’,
http://www.globalreporting.org/guidelines/protocols/WaterProtocol030501.pdf, accessed 16 October
2009.
Mitchell, D., Beecher, J., Chesnutt, T. and Pekelney, D. (2008) Transforming Water: Water
Efficiency Stimulus and Long-Term Investment, Alliance for Water Efficiency, Chicago, USA.
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