ABB India turns half of its manufacturing locations ‘water positive’

By OEM Update Editorial March 26, 2024 6:45 pm IST

Three of the six manufacturing locations replenishing more water to the ground than being consumed.

Peenya campus of ABB India in Bengaluru has been certified water positive by the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council. With this, three out of its six manufacturing locations are now ‘water positive’. Their Peenya campus has a water positivity index of 1.05, demonstrating its contribution towards replenishing a much greater quantity of water for the environment than withdrawals for its manufacturing facilities. Previously, the Nelamangala campus and Nashik Plant 1 had received a ‘water positive’ certification from the GRIHA Council, in association with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

In place of simply replacing the amount of water taken from the environment, the company implemented a systematic approach towards ‘Water Positivity’ to replenish more water than it consumes at these locations. The approach includes initiatives such as rainwater use and recharge, reduction in the use of freshwater, water recycling, and real-time monitoring of water consumption, recharge, and saving.

The Peenya unit currently has 5 cross-wave technology-based recharge tanks and 1 conventional recharge well to capture the runoff and recharge the groundwater table. The installation of water-efficient fixtures and fittings reduced the freshwater consumption for domestic purposes, whereas the domestic wastewater generated within the site is treated through the in-house sewage treatment plant (STP) and recycled for gardening through efficient water sprinklers as well as a drip-based irrigation system resulting in water recyclability enhancement by 12% as compared to previous year.

The water positive index shows ABB India’s enhanced dependency on secondary water sources such as treated wastewater, and rainwater and lesser dependency on groundwater sources for its manufacturing facilities.

“At ABB, ‘sustainability in practice’ is at the core of everything we do and is a key part of our company’s purpose. Water is a precious resource, and its preservation is critical for us. Achieving water positivity for 50 percent of our manufacturing locations is a significant achievement in our journey towards resource preservation and we remain committed to turning all our manufacturing locations ‘water positive’ in coming years,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India.

ABB India’s water management initiatives across the locations were vetted by renowned external organizations such as the GRIHA Council, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Assessment parameters included water monitoring system & KPI management, rainwater recharge and usage, water reduction initiatives, wastewater treatment and recycling system.

ABB Peenya campus reduced the dependency on freshwater demand by 22 percent as compared to the previous year through various water conservation initiatives to achieve long-term sustainability goals, which resulted in the reduction of freshwater withdrawal and the overall water footprint of the company. Additionally, all their owned manufacturing locations in the country have been certified under the Green Factory Building rating system by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Their owned manufacturing locations across India have cumulatively contributed to an 87.8% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions versus its 2019 baseline with the realization of its RE100 goal and various energy efficiency improvement initiatives. 

[1] Peenya campus certified Water Positive with Water Positive Index (WPI) of 1.05 by GRIHA council in the year 2024.

2 Nelamangala campus certified Water Positive with Water Positive Index (WPI) of 1.24 by GRIHA council in the year 2021.

3 Nashik Plant 1 certified Water Positive with Water Positive Index (WPI) of 1.14 by GRIHA council in the year 2023.