Water Use

In 2000, Ford launched a water-reduction initiative and set a target of 3 percent year-over-year reduction in water use. From 2000 to 2007, Ford's global manufacturing operations reduced water consumption by 43 percent or approximately 7.4 billion gallons. We reduced our global water use by approximately 21 percent from 2006 to 2007 alone.

When the initiative began, many facilities had little ability to track their water usage. Ford engineers developed a patented Water Estimation Tool (WET), a software program that helps facilities to predict their water usage. They then paired WET with WILD (Water Ideas to Lessen Demand), a list of practical ideas for reducing water usage depending on where and when usage is the greatest. Our facilities made good progress for several years, meeting or exceeding the 3 percent year-over-year water reduction goal that applied to all facilities. To encourage continued progress, Ford environmental engineers are developing "single point lessons" that document practices demonstrated to save water. These lessons are then cascaded for mandatory implementation in all facilities and are included in facility business plans. Single point lessons implemented thus far include leak identification, cooling tower optimization and vehicle water testing.

Water use at each facility is also tracked in the Global Emissions Manager database (GEM), our global emissions management and reduction system. Water use as an element of GEM is included in a monthly tracking scorecard reviewed by senior management.

Ford facilities have used these tools and innovative engineering to cut water use. For example:

• Ford's assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, is doubling its production of vehicles while cutting water use. This unusual feat is being accomplished through the addition of innovative water treatment systems that allow extensive recycling of water within the plant.

  An extended drought and population growth has created a severe water shortage in the Sonoran Desert where the plant is located. The Hermosillo plant had responded to the shortage by cutting water usage by 65 percent over an eight-year period. But when the plant was selected to build the new Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr sedans, water use was projected to double along with production.

  To accommodate the growth in production without increasing water use, the Hermosillo plant installed a novel biological water treatment system called a Membrane Biological Reactor, similar to one installed at our Chennai Plant in India. The system uses an ultra-filtration membrane process followed by reverse osmosis to make 75 percent of the plant's wastewater suitable for high-quality reuse within the plant's processes. Water treated through the biological treatment process can also be used for irrigation, so in total 80 percent of the wastewater discharge can be recycled, cutting potable water use by 40 percent and exceeding the plant's original commitment to keep potable water use at the same level as the plant expanded its production.

• We are also pilot-testing a new environmentally friendly, anti-corrosion, pre-paint treatment technology that cuts water use in automotive paint shops by 35 percent and decreases the production of hazardous waste. The process uses a zirconium oxide vehicle bath instead of zinc phosphate treatment, which eliminates heavy metals, including zinc, nickel and manganese, and significantly reduces water consumption. Field tests and further implementation of this technology will continue through 2008 and 2009.