Table of Contents
Water Categorization
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What is the definition of rejected water?
- How is reject percentage calculated?
- How do we quantify the reject percentage if a facility has multiple pre-treatment types?
- What is rejected water from pre-treatment?
- If 5% of a factory’s water is municipal blue water without pre-treatment and used for drinking water and cooking, is this considered incoming water pre-treatment?
- Is water used by workers while working classified as 'production' or 'domestic' use?
Data Management/Scoring
- Should I use volume or percentage when reporting water targets?
- Where can I input water usage data?
- How can we effectively account for incoming and outgoing data?
- Do meters for tracking domestic and industrial water need to be separated? If so, is there a deadline by which facilities need to do so ?
- Should domestic water be included when answering this question: “List down the highest water use processes or operations at your facility (from highest to lowest) that account for 80% of your water use.”
- If a facility is non-compliant with legally mandated groundwater abstraction restrictions, but plans to be compliant in the future, would it still qualify for full points on this question?
What is the definition of rejected water?
Rejected water is the quantity of water that is not suitable to use in processes from the total incoming water at the on-site pre-treatment facility. If the facility has indicated that pre-treatment of incoming water occurs onsite in the Site Info section of the FEM, in such scenarios the facility should include rejected water also in tracking their water consumption.
How is reject percentage calculated?
Rejected Water Percentage (%) = (Rejected Water From Pre Treatment m3/ Total Incoming Water Treated through Pre Treatment m3) * 100
How do we quantify the reject percentage if a facility has multiple pre-treatment types?
If your facility has multiple pre-treatment types for fresh water, you can calculate the total volume of rejected water from all pre-treatments to determine the percentage.
What is rejected water from pre-treatment?
Rejected water from pre-treatment refers to freshwater treated before it is used within the facility. This water may go through sand or other filtration processes, leading to the rejection of some water.
This rejected water quantity has often not been accounted for in the facility's consumption in previous assessments. All facilities are encouraged to record and report the quantity of water that is rejected, as it is part of the initial water source within the facility, even though it is ultimately rejected and disposed of.
If 5% of a factory’s water is municipal blue water without pre-treatment and used for drinking water and cooking, is this considered incoming water pre-treatment?
Yes, even if it is less than 5% of your total water, you should report Fresh Water Pretreatment.
Is water used by workers while working classified as 'production' or 'domestic' use?
Water used for washrooms, sanitation, drinking and food preparation, landscape irrigation, non-contact cooling etc, should be considered as domestic water.
Should I use volume or percentage when reporting water targets?
If the target is set on an absolute basis, the facility will be required to enter the target volume
If the target is set on a normalized basis, the facility will be required to enter the percentage change for the target from that source.
In both cases, pair the value with a negative sign for reduction targets or a positive sign for increased targets.
Where can I input water usage data?
Once you select at least one water source and confirm your intent to track water consumption, enter water usage data in the consumption data table.
How can we effectively account for incoming and outgoing data?
Facilities can do this by installing meters for incoming water and outgoing wastewater sources.
Do meters for tracking domestic and industrial water need to be separated? If so, is there a deadline by which facilities need to do so?
It recommended that the facility install separate meters for tracking industrial and domestic water use. If the facility does not have separate meters for industrial and domestic use, facilities should answer no to the question and use estimation methods to report data. The calculation methodology should be clearly defined and supported by verifiable data. Tracking domestic and production water use separately can help facilities further identify specific areas for improvement and conservation efforts.
Should domestic water be included when answering this question: “List down the highest water use processes or operations at your facility (from highest to lowest) that account for 80% of your water use.”
Domestic water should be considered here because water balance in a factory typically refers to all the water used in the facility, including both industrial and domestic use.
If a facility is non-compliant with legally mandated groundwater abstraction restrictions, but plans to be compliant in the future, would it still qualify for full points on this question?
The FEM reflects the facility's current environmental position. As the facility is currently non-compliant, it would not qualify for full points on this question. Partial points are not awarded on this question given that the relevant restrictions are legally mandated.