Ford plans to put less water into building cars
Ford has targeted reducing its water use in building vehicles world wide by 30% per vehicle by 2015.
After reducing its water use during production by 62% (71% in North America) between 2000 and 2010, the company is setting an ambitious goal for the first half of the present decade. The past reductions amount to savings of about 40 billion litres (10.5 billion gallons) or the average annual consumption of 105,000 homes. The per-vehicle savings amounted to 49% worldwide and 45% in North America.
In 2000, making a vehicle used 9,500 litres; if Ford meets its target, it will take just 3,500 litres in 2015.
“Water remains one of our top environmental priorities and our aggressive reduction target helps ensure continued focus on this critical resource,” said Sue Cischke, group vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.
In the Sonoran Desert, at the Hermosillo, Mexico plant that produces the Ford Fusion, Fusion Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ, water usage dropped 40% between 2000 and 2010, although production doubled in the same period. The plant uses a membrane biological reactor treatment system to make 65% of the plant’s waste water reusable elsewhere in the facility or for irrigation. The same system is in use at Ford plants in India and China.
Ford also uses dry-machining (a process of cooling tools with a fine mist of oil, rather than the traditional water-based coolant) at several plants around the globe in order to save an estimated million litres of water annually on the typical 450,000 unit production line.
The company tracks water use at all its plants through its Environmental Operating System (EOS).
Source: Autonet.ca
By Joe Duarte