Water is one of the most valuable resources. Every living being, including ourselves and all of our food, needs water to survive. It should therefore be treated with great value. Yet, as our population grows, water usage is rapidly increasing. Predictions based on current population growth rates estimate that almost 50% of all human beings will be living in areas experiencing severe water stress and droughts by 2050.

The solution is two-fold: waste less and reuse more.

Waste less
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over two-thirds of domestic water use is for indoor activities such as dishwashing, flushing, and laundry. Gardening and leisure activities such as swimming pools account for one-third of domestic outdoor water use. Various programs, advanced technologies, and control systems help minimize the amount of water wasted in such activities for both scenarios. For instance, dishwashers, automatic irrigation systems, and circular cleaning systems for swimming pools are accountable for helping homeowners save money.

At a corporate level, improved technologies, pre-configured and automatic manufacturing systems help companies reduce their water usage, thus achieving an even higher positive impact than in private households. Technologies such as automatic paint booths and alternative solvents to water are examples of water-saving technologies.

Reuse more
On the other side, water pollution is a severe issue, primarily caused by irresponsible manufacturing processes and poor waste management. Water contamination affects the health of millions worldwide and their food and sanitation, putting people’s lives put at risk due to the cleanliness and quality of the water they have access to.

While some solutions appear to improve the quality of already polluted water, it is crucial that companies’ wastewater enters public sewage as close as possible to drinking level quality. This way, wastewater can be reused for irrigation, cleaning purposes, or even drinking, if possible.

Modulex and water
In our factory in Billund, we work hard to reduce our water use and treat it adequately before it enters the public sewage. By implementing water-saving technologies such as water-free pre-treatments and changing our paints’ composition, we have reduced the total water usage by 28% during the past nine years and 87.9% since 1995. On top of this, our wastewater gets treated before entering public sewage to remove all harmful chemicals and heavy metals to minimize pollution. While we are still unable to always guarantee drinking-level water, we continuously work hard to achieve this.

Erik Sørensen Ruiz

Environmental and Partnership Manager