2023-05-25 06:45:39
To produce, you need water. Indeed, all industrial processes need to be supplied with water at one time or another.
For a long time, manufacturers focused their efforts on the processes for depolluting their wastewater. The regulations in this area, which are increasingly restrictive, have forced the various sectors to develop innovative processes to discharge into natural environments water of standardized quality, inert for the environment. Today, the episodes of successive droughts that have affected France are forcing the industrial world to project itself into a future where water resources will run out.
All countries are not equal when it comes to water scarcity. In Europe, France, with Spain, Italy, and Greece sees its water tables at historically low levels. The countries of Northern Europe do not currently have this kind of problem.
Be that as it may, industry players must now juggle between two constraints in the management of their wastewater: the limitation of withdrawals from the environment, and the treatment of their water. A delicate balance to find, since it is complex to clean up the water… without using too much water. It is innovation that allows companies engaged in processes to improve the management of their water to find new solutions for treating their wastewater, with the aim of reinjecting it into industrial processes, to limit withdrawals. in the middle.
The current problem is that French regulations severely limit the legal framework for the reuse of treated wastewater. In France, 1% of treated industrial water is reused, while this figure reaches 15% in countries such as Italy and Spain. A detrimental delay, which severely limits the scope of possible solutions for water treatment by industry. If this framework were to evolve and become more flexible, as expected, the development of innovative, collective solutions for treating industrial waste water should accelerate rapidly.
Indeed, one variable today can be misleading: the price of water. If the water resource is inexpensive today, its scarcity risks changing its price. At the same time making the price of treated water more competitive. Thus, many manufacturers, led by large groups, are already investing in technologies enabling them to manufacture their products while saving water. Or rather by integrating it into a circular framework, and even ultimately in a closed circuit.
Of course, the investments to be made are often very heavy, which medium-sized companies cannot necessarily afford.
Cristal Union, a large sugar group whose waste water management strategy is mentioned in this dossier, has set up a process for recovering the water contained in the beets it processes, in order to save water. This strategy, which today allows the company to recover 100% of the water contained in the beets, also benefits farmers who use excess water during periods of drought.
1685018920
#Lack #water #reality #French #industry #White #Paper