Ford aims to reduce water consumption 30 percent per vehicle globally by 2015, compared with the amount of water used per vehicle in 2009.
The new target builds on the success the company has already had with its Global Water Management Initiative that launched in 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, Ford reduced its global water use by 62 percent, or 10.5 billion gallons. That's the equivalent of how much water 105,000 average American residences use annually, based on figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
If Ford meets its goal of reducing the amount of water used by 30 percent between 2009 and 2015, the amount of water used to make a vehicle will have dropped from 9.5 cubic meters in 2000 to approximately 3.5 cubic meters in 2015. One cubic meter is equal to 264.2 gallons of water.
Ford is investing in technologies that make its manufacturing processes less water intensive, as well as technologies for treating and reusing wastewater.
At several locations in the U.S. Ford is using so-called dry-machining technology, also known as Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) machining. This technology lubricates cutting tools with a very small amount of oil sprayed directly on the tip in a finely atomized mist, instead of with a large quantity of coolant/water mixture. The process saves hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and oil per year.
In dry locations like Mexico's Sonoran Desert (where Ford's Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant is located) Ford has installed biological water treatment systems, which allow it to reuse up to 65 percent of wastewater for irrigation or other uses in the plant.
Production at Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant doubled between 2000 and 2010. However, water usage at the plant dropped during the same period by 40 percent, Ford said. The water treatment system also is being used at Ford plants in Chennai, India and Chongqing, China.
Bart King is a PR consultant and principal at Cleantech Communications.
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Bart King is the founder and principal at New Growth Communications. He specializes in helping sustainability leaders develop thought leadership content and strategy
Published Jan 2, 2012 3pm EST / 12pm PST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET