Water as a catalyst for fostering global harmony: Can water protection make the world a more peaceful place?
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Did you know that around 2.2 billion people worldwide live without sufficient clean drinking water? That's one out of four!
In the coming years, the escalation of climate change is poised to intensify global water stress, with the precious resource evaporating at an accelerated rate on a warmer planet.
The repercussions are already evident through heightened occurrences of droughts and floods in Europe, and around the world, a trend that continues to surge. Regions grappling with severe water stress are witnessing escalating competition among users for access to water sources, resulting in disputes that exacerbate existing conflicts. As water scarcity deepens, its value rises, potentially transforming it into a leverage tool to assert control over territories and their inhabitants.
Water fosters peace
Nevertheless, water has the power to foster peace. This serves as the guiding principle for this year's World Water Day: Water for Peace. By collaboratively striving to safeguard and stabilize water as a vital resource, we can ensure the essential water requirements of the population, and play a role in cultivating a more tranquil world. The key lies in effective and equitable water management. Thus, there is a pressing necessity to engage in cross-border efforts to safeguard and preserve our most invaluable resource.
Conserving water resources
As a chemical company, our primary usage of water involves cooling water (80%), process water (18%), and steam (2%). In light of this, we are dedicated to the conscientious utilization of water. By extending our commitment beyond our business operations, we leverage our products to champion the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, aiming for "Clean water and sanitation for all".
It is evident that companies like LANXESS, specializing in the development and provision of products, technologies, and solutions for environmentally friendly water treatment, can contribute significantly. Towards the close of 2020, we initiated a global water program encompassing three key components.
LANXESSA total of four of our 57 locations are located in areas with extremely high water stress. Water abstraction at these locations is around 1.5%.
- Jhagadia (India),
- Nagda (India),
- Latina (Italy), and
- Qingdao (China).
Our goal: to reduce water extraction at risk locations by 15% by 2023 (base year 2019). With a reduction of 31%, we are exceeding the target we set ourselves, and thus underlining our commitment to sustainability.
Our local water stewardship programs
At the four high-risk locations with extremely high water stress, we pay particular attention to efficient water treatment for more effective utilization. We are also involved in local programs.
Thanks to the sewage treatment and post-treatment plants we have set up, we can cover more than half of our water requirements with municipal wastewater and also produce wastewater-free. All of the water is recycled and reused within the site. This leads to significant water savings.
In addition, a rainwater harvesting project was realized with the local population in 2022.
To reduce water extraction, projects such as the reuse of certain wastewater streams through reverse osmosis and the installation of several flow meters on site for accurate water balancing are planned. Only recently, a reverse osmosis project (water treatment) was successfully put into operation. After the pilot phase, we would like to implement the project on a large scale.
We are also involved locally in Jhagadia with projects to utilize rainwater at three schools in the area.
Efficient water management
In addition to our measures at the production sites, we support our customers in using water responsibly. Our Lewatit® ion exchange resins are used, for example, in the treatment and reuse of process water in industry. They remove undesirable substances and thus protect this valuable resource.
Among other things, they are used for
- Drinking water treatment,
- Waste water treatment,
- groundwater treatment.
More about Lewatit® ion exchange resins.
