Water

Water Reduction and Reuse

We have implemented water reduction measures over the past few years that have reduced both annual water usage and wastewater generation and disposal on the farm and at the manufacturing facility. In total, we have saved more than 5 million gallons of water and reduced wastewater discharge by 6 million gallons since 2014.

Water-reduction and reuse projects included:

• A compressed air system improvement that resulted in a 55,000-gallon-per-year reduction in water lost to evaporation and blow-down
• The creation of cleaning efficiencies in cleaning equipment and the building, resulting in a reduction of more than 250,000 gallons per year of water usage and wastewater generation
• Onsite diversion of iron filter regeneration water at the farm, eliminating the need for offsite disposal of about 80,000 gallons per month during harvest and processing season (about 300,000 gallons total) of wastewater—and more than 50 associated truck trips
• Needle valves were installed to control seal water flow to four large process pumps at the farm headquarters. This project is estimated to have reduced water usage and associated wastewater generation by approximately 60,000 gallons per year.
• Modifications to the controls for the rinse section of the barrel washer (used to clean barrels for reuse) resulted in a significant reduction in water usage and wastewater associated with this operation at the main plant. The closure report for this project estimates annual reductions of 1,500,000 gallons per year.

We will keep researching additional opportunities for further reduction and reuse of water throughout our corporate headquarters.