While occasionally beset by flooding rains, much of Australia is, for most of the time, a wide brown land afflicted by drought — with water shortages increasing in city and rural areas alike. Water restrictions have become all too familiar, and the cost of water is increasing. Management at BP’s Kwinana refinery in Western Australia realised more than a decade ago that they could not use more fresh water than their region could replenish. The plant needed water as fresh (‘potable’ or drinking‐quality), steam (purchased from a third party supplier) and reclaimed (‘grey’) water for its various processes. BP set itself SMART goals to bring into effect a water minimisation program, using reverse osmosis to produce industrial‐grade grey water. It thereby greatly reduced its use of potable water for cooling. The cost of building the plant to recycle the water was initially expensive, but the benefits have been both financial — equating to savings of over $1 million annually — and environmental. Recently, the refinery reported it had met all its programs, objectives and targets for its water use. Having specific and measurable objectives to achieve was an essential part of the success of this plan.

QUESTION

Local governments have been successful in encouraging households to use less water and less electricity, providing consumption comparisons with ‘same period last year’ and with average use by other consumers. How could this approach be applied to industrial organisations? What kind of feedback would be most helpful?

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Having specific and measurable objectives to achieve was an essential part of the success of BP's water minimisation program at its Kwinana refinery.