June 11, 2008—GE has launched a new commitment under its ecomagination initiative, announcing a company-wide absolute 20% fresh water reduction target by 2012. The new commitment is reportedly one of the world’s most aggressive corporate water reduction targets to date and is expected to save 2 billion gallons of fresh water–enough water to fill more than 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, says the company.
In 2006, GE used approximately 10 billion gallons of fresh water. Using this figure as a baseline, GE says it will aggressively implement water reuse and process efficiencies to meet the company’s absolute water reduction target. Selective GE sites will decrease water use by applying process efficiencies and/or reusing highly treated wastewater for a variety of commercial and manufacturing needs, such as boiler feed water, cooling tower make-up, heat exchangers, and manufacturing processes.
GE says it will use the same portfolio of water-saving solutions to help reduce municipal, industrial, and agriculture customers’ fresh water use. GE will help customers evaluate water use, identify efficiency goals and metrics, and deliver solutions that meet customers’ environmental and regulatory goals.
