PepsiCo achieves safe water access goal

Sponsored by PepsiCo has announced that the company has achieved its previously stated goal of partnering to provide access to safe water to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2015. Given the company's progress to date, PepsiCo also announced a new commitment to provide access to safe water to an additional three million people over the next three years through continued partnerships with water organizations, doubling the company's original goal. PepsiCo has achieved this milestone as a result of its Performance with Purpose strategy, which is the company's goal to find innovative ways to minimize PepsiCo's impact on the environment and lower the company's costs through energy and water conservation, as well as reduced packaging; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities in which the company operates.

Through the PepsiCo Foundation, the company has identified projects and partners to provide access to safe water to millions of people through initiatives that include water conservation, distribution, purification, and hygiene for underserved communities in China, India, Mali, Brazil, Colombia, and other Latin American countries. PepsiCo has been widely recognized for the company's water stewardship initiatives. Last year, PepsiCo received the prestigious Stockholm Industry Award, which honors the business sector's contribution to sustainable water management, improved performance in production, and innovative approaches in water process technologies. The steps PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation have taken to improve public access to clean water and to conserve water across the company's business operations include:

Forming partnerships with organizations around the world to spur community development and address environmental issues. In addition to the Columbia Water Center, PepsiCo also works closely on water-related programs with the China Women's Development Foundation, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Safe Water Network, and Water.org. Installing village water and irrigation systems, establishing water health centers, constructing rainwater harvesting cisterns, improving sanitation programs, and recharging aquifers. Improving global water use efficiency in PepsiCo's operations by more than 20 percent per unit of production, from a 2006 baseline, achieving its water goal a full four years ahead of schedule. Conserving nearly 16 billion liters of water in the company's operations in 2011, from a 2006 baseline, through the application of water-saving equipment and technologies; creative recycling and re-use; and by deploying a water management system throughout its manufacturing facilities. Reducing the company's water and energy-related costs by more than $45 million in 2011, compared to 2006.

Innovating a variety of agricultural practices and technologies around the world that are designed to reduce water use in farming through new irrigation techniques, as well as tools that help farmers deliver fertilizer and water to their crops at the most efficient time.

Pilot Demonstrates Viability of UF for High Solids Water

Water sources that experience seasonal fluctuations in solids and turbidity levels require a water treatment system designed to anticipate these changing environmental conditions and still reliably meet water quality standards. The Baker County Industrial Park water treatment facility draws its water from the Park Hollow Lake and is distributed via 20,000 feet of pipeline to the complex. The facility completed a successful start-up in January 2012, following a five-month, on-site pilot conducted by water treatment systems provider Tonka Water and the Hardy County Public Services Department to ensure it met the state's drinking water protocol. The pilot system used flocculation and settling time with a high rate clarifier using a tube settler for the reduction and removal of iron, manganese, turbidity, and organics. The DOW Ultrafiltration (UF) SFD2860 membrane model was selected to further reduce contaminant levels and address water treatment objectives. "High turbidity and solids levels caused by spring snow melt and rainfall at Park Hollow Lake required a flux system that could facilitate water safety year-round, no matter what fluctuated upstream," said Andreas Gorenflo, Global Strategic Marketing Manager Desalination and Municipal, Dow Water & Process Solutions. During the pilot trial, the UF membranes underwent routine cleaning operations designed to reduce fouling and maintenance flux and permeability. Following these cleanings, the UF membranes were restored to better than their initial permeability. Also, as indicated by the EPA, the UF system must undergo a daily integrity test to demonstrate a resolution of three microns or less. Test results of the UF membranes were well below the standard of 0.2 psi/min. Since the start up, the membranes still demonstrate similar performance on fiber integrity. The chemical cleaning frequency has also been updated to lower the overall chemical cost. "We chose DOW Ultrafiltration Membranes for the Baker Water Treatment Plant project primarily for their reliability and ease of integration into our UTSM treatment system, but also because of their relatively smaller footprint compared to multimedia filters," said Gary Warner, Executive Vice President of Tonka Water. "We see this trend as a key innovation in North America as growing communities, like those served by the Baker Water Treatment Plant in Hardy County, W.Va., look for system solutions that address high turbidity water sources and can accommodate their cost and space requirements." "The Baker facility is now supplying over half a million gallons of water a day to both residential and commercial customers," said Daniel Opperman, Commercial Manager of Dow Water & Process Solutions. "We're excited to see the plant come online and to see yet another adoption of our UF technology as a practical solution." Editor Note: The plant design was recently recognized by the American Council of Engineering with the Gold Engineering Excellence Award in the Water Resources Category.