Arania works to reduce the water footprint
As the industrial community moves towards an increasing awareness of sustainability and environmental responsibility, leading companies must innovate and adapt their strategies to reduce their ecological impact. The preservation of water, in particular, remains a strategic priority at Arania.
An ongoing project aims to reduce its water footprint by monitoring the company’s water consumption and understanding the use patterns involved in its processes, leading to the development of projects to globally reduce the water footprint. With this initiative, Arania strengthens its environmental commitment and reaffirms its position as a pioneer in sustainable solutions in the steel industry.
Arania is a leading European player in the production of low-emission rolled steel, and a front-runner in industrial responsibility projects . The company’s organisation has implemented a project focused on designing new solutions to reduce the water footprint of its activities. According to Leire Fernández, ARANIA’s Environmental Manager, “the ultimate goal is to reduce ARANIA’s water footprint in two main phases: initially, by monitoring and digitalising water consumption—secondly, by studying consumption patterns and carrying out projects to reduce the use of this critical asset”.
The process of monitoring and digitalising water consumption began in mid-2023.
A segmentation of the water consumption networks into 11 different sections was carried out, using real-time water consumption meters, which have become “essential for the continuous monitoring and effective management of water use”, as the project manager points out.
Moreover, in order to manage this information, Arania relies on an online platform accessible from any device, an innovative tool providing information and generating alerts via email, SMS and notifications on the same platform, whenever any consumption above the stipulated levels is detected. This real-time responsiveness is crucial for the immediate detection of incidents and allows for swift decision-making.
At its second stage, the project focuses primarily on building a detailed understanding of the steel plant’s water consumption patterns.
Here the challenge consists in visualising the necessary water consumption for each zone or segment, in order to define potential reductions to be made through improvement projects in each area.
MAJOR BENEFITS
- Real-time incident detection: continuous monitoring enables the operators to quickly detect and correct any deviations regarding water consumption, thus saving water and optimising the use of resources.
- Understanding consumption patterns: water consumption segmentation allows for a better understanding of how water is used in specific processes and facilities, thereby simplifying the identification of areas for improvement.
- Investment assessment: the detailed and segmented information sent by real-time water meters is processed by the online platform. As a result, the possibility of additional investments to reduce water consumption and improvements on operational efficiency can be more accurately assessed.
