Treatment and cure
Our zero-discharge campuses Unsafe water causes 2.2 million deaths
Unsafe water causes 2.2 million deaths worldwide every year, mostly of children under five.
Source: Pacific Institute
A report released by the World Water Assessment Programme in 2009 revealed that in several developing countries, more than 70% of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters where they pollute the usable water supply.
Source: UNEP report
We are a technology services company, and our operations do not result in a significant volume of effluents when compared to manufacturing-intensive organizations. But as a company committed to protecting the environment, we pledge to eliminate wastewater discharge completely from our campuses.
Experimenting with technology
As part of our overall water sustainability plan, we have invested in several efficient sewage treatment technologies. Among them is the aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR), which has helped us meet our Zero Liquid Discharge commitment. With the help of the MBR technology, we are able to treat and reuse 100% of the wastewater generated through our business operations within our campuses. Consequently, our freshwater withdrawal from the environment has reduced drastically as we reuse the recycled water for all our gardening, landscaping, flushing, and cooling needs.
How MBR works
The MBR technology uses a combination of micro-filtration and suspended growth bioreactor. The membrane in MBR allows water and dissolved matter to pass through it while rejecting solid particulate matter, resulting in a clarified and disinfected effluent. While the treated water is recycled and reused, the sludge is moved through an ultrafiltration process and then back into the digester.
In fiscal 2016, we recycled and reused up to 715 million gallons of water, which amounts to 72.78% of the total water withdrawal. In addition to reducing our water withdrawal from the environment, this has helped us meet our commitment towards becoming a zero-liquid discharge organization.
