Working with you - industrial customers
Our industrial customers are large and small manufacturing businesses and other enterprises that use water and generate trade waste in their production processes.
Examples of industrial customers include manufacturers of food, beverages, plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals, metal products, pesticides, meat processing works, tanneries, laundries, wool scouring and other textile operations.
Water used in industrial processes can be significantly polluted and industrial customers have Trade Waste Agreements with us to manage the volume and nature of water discharged to sewer. This ensures that trade waste does not impact on the safety of sewer workers, treatment plants or sewerage system performance, and stops treated wastewater that is being used as recycled water from harming the environment.
The bottom line
We aim to work closely with our industrial customers to implement cleaner production processes, which reduce costs and improve your business efficiency.
The benefits of cleaner production may include:
• Reduced consumption of potable [drinking] water
• Substitution with recycled water
• Reduced trade waste and associated charges
• Reduced levels of dissolved solids and critical pollutants in trade waste
• Reduced energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions
• Improved efficiency
• Reduced costs and an increasing profit margin.
Helping you deliver these benefits
Our City West Water Team can help you to develop a Resource Management Action Plan [ResourceMAP] to meet the requirements of the Victorian Government’s waterMAP program and Victorian Environment Protection Authority’s EREP program, assist with applications for grants and other funding opportunities, and provide access to research and development projects, as well as other useful information.
ResourceMAP's are designed to meet the individual needs of each business. Significant funding from City West Water and other government funds, such as the Smart Water Fund, are available to turn innovative ideas into commercial advantage.
Our partnerships and affiliations with leading research and development organisations, such as the CSIRO, EPA Victoria, and universities provide access to the latest technological developments.
- Salt and recycled water: Helping industrial customers meet the challenge
- Funding opportunities
- Pathways to cleaner production: Resource Management Action Plans
- Industry-specific benchmarks
See how other City West Water customers are using cleaner production processes to reduce water consumption, manage trade waste and improve business performance.
Click here to view a few summary case studies.
Click here to view research and development projects.
Salt and recycled water: Helping industrial customers meet the challenge
A key element of the Victorian Government’s plans to increase water recycling is reducing the amount of salt in sewage flowing into the Western Treatment Plant.
A major source of salts and other dissolved minerals in treated wastewater is trade waste produced by our industrial customers.
The Victorian Government has set a target for reducing salt levels in treated effluent at the Western Treatment Plant of 40 per cent by 2009, so that the use of recycled water to replace drinking water in industrial processes, and irrigation of gardens and sports fields west of Melbourne can increase significantly.
We are working with our customers to meet the salt challenge, and have made major progress towards the salt-reduction target.
Click here to view the TDS analysis chart.
At-source reduction
Removing salt from treated wastewater requires energy, generates greenhouse gases, and involves additional costs.
The most cost-effective solution is to prevent salts, metals and other dissolved minerals from entering the sewerage system in the first place, and industrial customers that achieve at-source reductions can benefit from improved resource efficiency, which can lead to increased profits.
Our industrial customers are practising continuous improvement in the reduction of salt by the adoption of cleaner production processes.
Funding opportunities
A wide range of funding opportunities is available for our industrial customers who are prepared to adopt innovative approaches to cleaner production.
These grants or incentives can offset the costs associated with setting up new systems designed to reduce consumption of drinking water, increase use of recycled water, and reduce the discharge or improve the quality of trade waste.
City West Water has developed a funding/grants database which provides information on the various sources of funding available from local, state and federal governments and industry organisations.
The database offers information on funding resources associated with water conservation, energy conservation, cleaner production, trade waste minimisation and water recycling.
Information on each grant or incentive includes eligibility requirements, the amount of money available and contact details.
We can work with you to develop and support funding applications.
Water Conservation Funding/grants database [XLS 103 KB]Pathways to cleaner production: Resource Management Action Plans [ResourceMAP's]
ResourceMAP's help our industrial customers to improve water and resource efficiency by adopting cleaner production processes.
The plans, which are a requirement of both the Victorian Government's 'waterMAP Program' and of Trade Waste Agreements, investigate ways to reduce trade waste pollutants, minimise trade waste discharged to sewer, reduce water consumption, and explore and implement water recycling.
We will work closely with you to develop the plan, which is designed to meet the individual needs of your business.
This involves systematic analysis of the activities at your site, focusing on water use and trade waste, in particular total dissolved solids, heavy metals and other critical pollutants.
The plans aim to improve resource use efficiency, and each considers the impact of operational changes on final product quality and production costs.
Priority areas for reduction options are identified, along with timelines and responsibilities for action.
Our Cleaner Production Team can also help you identify research and development and funding opportunities.
A ResourceMAP template and information kit is available on CD.
ResourceMAP [Template] - version 1.1 [Word format]
ResourceMAP Comprehensive [Template] - a step-by-step guide [Word format]
ResourceMAP [Example] - version 1.1 [PDF]
Industry-specific benchmarks
Where available, industry benchmarks will be used to help identify realistic water-reduction targets for your City West Water ResourceMAP.
Click here for more information on the benchmarking project.