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It may not seem so in the UK, but water is a valuable natural resource. Apart from ensuring a regular supply, its storage, treatment and transport takes energy and is expensive. Novartis Grimsby have reduced their need to obtain water from local rivers and reservoirs by drilling a borehole on their site next to the River Humber. Water is taken from the ground and used to cool chemical processes before being returned to the borehole. In effect, cooling water is continually recycled which reduces the need to take water from external sources. The quality of water returned to the ground is constantly monitored and Novartis work closely with the water authority who set limits to the volume that can be taken from the borehole. Figures for the year 2000 show that the total
water usage for the site was 289,800m3.
Over half of this was water recycled through
the borehole which resulted in a saving of
147,000m3. That is equivalent to
a football pitch being covered by a layer of
water 30m deep. |
 By using borehole water, Novartis save the equivalent of a football pitch covered in 30m of water each year. |