World Water Day, observed annually on 22 March, is a global event that highlights the critical importance of freshwater and advocates for the sustainable management of water resources.
For Chemring, this day serves as a reminder of water's vital role in our manufacturing and supply chains. In recent years, improved data collection and management have strengthened our ongoing focus on water reduction across the group. Here, Ian, Environmental Sustainability Lead, tells us more.
“In FY24, we introduced a new environmental platform, Sphera, to further assure our environmental data and to help us better understand where improvements could be made. Through Sphera, we are now closely monitoring our water usage across all Chemring sites. We track water in and out, breaking the water in data down to measure mains water and abstraction water (abstracted from a natural source).
“In the UK, we replaced all the old mechanical water meters with digital meters to give us accurate, real-time data. We now get digital readings every five seconds. We discovered several water leaks at our UK sites through these improvements to our measuring and monitoring.”
“As our facilities are sited on aquifers (permeable layers that allow water to pass through easily), it can be challenging to detect water leaks as water doesn’t sit or pool on the surface. By analysing water in versus water out, we could see that the numbers didn’t stack up, so we began a leak detection and repair programme. We discovered several water leaks at our UK facilities and undertook repairs. We are also putting in a proactive maintenance plan to ensure pipes are regularly monitored in the future.
“Through our combined efforts across Chemring, from improved data capture and analysis to programs of proactive maintenance and water-saving measures, we have seen a 21% reduction in water usage across the group since FY21. Our UK and US businesses saw the most significant reductions, with the UK reducing water usage by 72% and the US by 42% since FY21.
“We’re keen to develop further how we’re using Sphera to track progress. The next step is to further break down our water data to track how much water is sent to production, how much is consumed, how much is sent to the sewerage system, and how much is sent for treatment. This will help us to understand better how we’re using our water resources and where we can continue to make improvements.”