Water saving efficiency measures wins Cargill Australia recognition
Cargill Australia (Newcastle Facility) has been recognised as a leader in water management and efficiency by the Hunter Business Chamber at its recent 2020 business awards.
Cargill constructed a new waste water treatment plant at its crush and refinery facility in Newcastle, New South Wales as part of an ongoing improvement program for potable water usage and treated water management.
The upgraded waste water treatment plant saves the Newcastle Facility over 100,000 litres of water every day. It replaces the use of potable water with recycled water in the plants scrubbing and odour reduction systems. The water treatment upgrade and recycled water usage was timely – the plant coming online and associated water savings coincided with a crippling once in a lifetime drought and the introduction of water restrictions in Newcastle for the first time in 25 years.
The Newcastle Crush plant produces canola oil and meal from Australian grown canola. The product is sold in domestic markets as well as important overseas markets such as China.
Australian Crush and Refinery Operations Manager, Nick Ebrill said the water plant construction started earlier in the 2019 year which coincided with discussions with Hunter Water on water efficiency and reduction plans. Waste water was previously irrigated on site, but through the new treatment plant approximately 30 to 40% of it can be reused.
Nick said the facility uses water for the purposes of dust and odour scrubbing. Nick said some other water saving projects included a reverse osmosis water treatment facility that has just been commissioned which is estimated to save an additional 20,000 litres per day. The reverse osmosis treatment plant reduces salt levels in the feed water used within the plant’s gas boiler. This means water can be used for longer periods and reduces the frequency the water (as steam) needs to be disposed of, saving both water and energy.
In total, the two projects save Cargill approximately 25% of their water usage at the Newcastle plant, which is a positive outcome for the environment, but also beneficial to the bottom line of the facility.
Managing Water Resources is a major focus for Cargill and one of our top five sustainability priorities. Cargill aims to achieve sustainable water management in our operations and all priority watersheds by 2030.
Hunter Water produced the following video showcasing their partnership with Cargill in managing water resources.
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