Nearly every food and beverage manufacturer has water reduction as a goal. The problem they run into is simple: Where do I start?  

Scarcity concerns, shifting regulatory guidelines and consumer-driven sustainability initiatives all demand action. Water circularity (an expansive, multi-pronged strategy for managing water inputs and effluent) offers food and beverage manufacturers a comprehensive framework for seizing the water opportunities at their fingertips.

However, the task of building comprehensive strategy for managing water inputs and effluent can feel intimidating. And intimidation can lead to inaction, even within an environment dominated by good intentions.

But it does not have to be this way. There is a straightforward, actionable way to turn water circularity from a lofty idea into a measurable reality.

Understanding water circularity

At its core, water circularity describes an approach to water management that resists the tendency to treat water as an unlimited, fundamentally disposable resource, replacing the traditional “linear” approach (withdrawing fresh water, using it, then disposing of it as effluent) with a circular group of strategies and applications that unlock more value from every ounce of water.

Water circularity boils down to three important and familiar ideas:

• You should reduce the overall amount of water you require through process improvements that use water more efficiently.
• You should reuse water safely wherever you can, resisting the impulse to use freshwater in settings where freshwater is not necessary.
• You should recycle water in novel use cases, thereby repurposing effluent into a fresh operational resource.

Each of these three ideas breaks down into hundreds of smaller actions and priorities. When food safety and product quality are on the line, it can feel easier to take an “If it is not broke, why fix it?” stance on water management.

But water circularity principles are not in conflict with food safety and quality goals; in fact, in many cases, they can reinforce improvements to a plant’s food safety program.

The business case for water circularity

I have been having in-depth conversations about water circularity with food and beverage manufacturers big and small for over 16 years. If there is one thing I wish I could impart on every manufacturer across the country and around the world, it is this: Water circularity is a strategic business imperative.

If you are operating in a region that is not experiencing water scarcity, where water is abundant and inexpensive, it may be difficult to recognize it as such. It is easy to think, “I am already hitting my food safety targets. We have some modest water initiatives on the horizon. Why trouble ourselves with this now?”

Answer: because the world is changing faster than you may realize. According to the World Resources Institute, 40% of the global population may experience water scarcity within two decades. Trellis Group predicts a 56% shortfall in freshwater for business use by 2030.

Really think about that statistic. What would you do if someone showed up on your doorstep and informed you that your business needed to perform at its current level with half the water it currently needs to operate safely and effectively? You would want a plan. You would want it to already be in motion.

Breaking it down

Food and beverage manufacturers do not need to tackle every aspect of water circularity all at once. A step-by-step approach strengthens the odds of long-term results by starting with what is easily attainable and progressively advancing strategies.

Begin with water reduction strategies; these tend to be the lowest-hanging fruit. From there, explore opportunities for reusing water within the specific conditions of your operation. Finally, wherever possible, invest in opportunities for water reclamation and recycling.

By tackling the three pillars of water circularity in sequential order, food and beverage manufacturers can gradually build smarter water management into the fabric of their operations.

Step 1: Find opportunities to reduce water demand

The easiest way to reduce water use is to limit your reliance on water for core processes. Ask yourself: “What processes are using the most water, and where can we reduce or eliminate excess?”

Some of these opportunities to reduce are hiding in plain sight. Maybe there are leaks on the factory floor that you have learned to live with. A leak of just 1.25 gallons per minute wastes enough water per year to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.

A wealth of reduction opportunities fall under your cleaning and hygiene program, which deserves particular focus. Clean-in-place (CIP) programs are overflowing with chances to reduce water inputs. Smart technology and automation have come a long way even over the last five years. Advanced sensors can alert you when final rinse stages are complete, preventing the use of water on already-clean equipment, and using high-powered chemistries can help consolidate cleaning phases, saving both water and energy.

Technology can also help identify new opportunities: digital monitoring and analysis tools make it exponentially easier to spot these opportunities for water savings. They also make it easier to quantify those potential savings and use those figures to make a water circularity case to leadership.

Often, apathy around water waste is rooted in cultural norms. Teams are preconditioned from years of abundant and low- or no-cost water to treat it as an unlimited resource. For example, employees might be hosing down floors and equipment when dry pick-up methods are available. Every time water hits the floor, your teams should be asking themselves, “Was that necessary? Or was that a missed opportunity to lower our water demand?” Shifting this cultural mindset requires sending a different message and building that message into a steady drumbeat of communications, enthusiastically enforced by leadership.

Step 2: Identify safe reuse opportunities

While reduction often happens within a specific cleaning function (such as CIP), reuse often happens between different applications at a food and beverage manufacturing facility.

For instance, depending on its contents, process water can be repurposed for cooling towers or non-food contact surfaces such as floors, walls and drains. Water can cycle between boiler and coolant applications, turning already necessary changes in temperature into opportunities for reuse.

As with reduction, CIP water should earn early attention. Already-hot CIP process water can be repurposed in other heating applications, saving not only the need for new freshwater but also the energy required to heat that freshwater. And final rinse water can be recovered and safely redeployed as pre-rinse water in future CIP cycles, creating a virtuous loop of water savings.

Reuse is more logistically complicated than reduction; it requires new workflows and, sometimes, tweaks to infrastructure. But short-term investments often lead to longer-term savings related to, for example, lower heating costs.

What is more, water reuse programs allow you to do more with the same amount of water. If you are looking to expand your production capacity –– by adding another process, for example –– but you are faced with a strict limit on effluent volume, water reuse can help you stretch the water you are already using and disposing.

Step 3: Reclaim water for new uses

The most advanced step in water circularity involves reclaiming and recycling water –– in other words: capturing effluent, treating it in some way and repurposing that post-treatment water within plant operations.

Recycling generally requires specialized equipment, and its most useful applications tend to vary more drastically between food and beverage verticals. For example, in a brewery context, certain chemical reactions make it possible to reclaim biogas from effluent, creating an auxiliary source of fuel. In other use cases, treating effluent on site with reverse osmosis (RO) systems can make it useful across a greater number of cleaning and hygiene scenarios.

There is a reason I typically address this core strategy pillar last. Designing and building water treatment systems is more expensive than fixing a simple leak.

Some facilities will never find it practical or economically viable to move beyond the “reuse” step. That is ok. A robust approach to reduction and reuse can create significant water savings and put food and beverage manufacturers several steps closer to future-ready water management.

But my piece of advice in these situations is this: make a plan for making a plan. With reduction and reuse under your belt, create a committee or team responsible for reviewing water recycling use cases and the systems –– such as RO or UV disinfection –– that make them possible. The right solution will be unique to your business and your facilities. When the moment comes for embracing a fuller approach to water circularity, you will be ready.

Take the next step toward water circularity

Water circularity helps you do more with less. It supports a more rigorous approach to food safety that also uncovers new ways of working more efficiently. Most importantly, it does all of this while positioning your business to thrive in a world where our approach to water looks fundamentally different.

You do not have to do it alone. The most successful programs bring together organizational leadership, technologies that can help with identification and automation, and expert partners who can directly connect water circularity actions to your immediate and long-term business goals.