Environment

Management of internal consumption of water and reuse water

Water is the raw material of our business and, therefore, water availability is essential for the care of the population. Thus, it is crucial to promote the management of water risks in our operations through internal efficiency programs, actions to combat losses and online monitoring of water and effluent quality.

The capture of water for treatment and distribution to our customers must be accompanied by actions of operational efficiency and reduction of losses focused on the reduction of water pressure on the springs. In addition to reducing losses, efficiency measures include efforts to monitor and reduce internal water consumption in our operational and administrative activities.

At BRK we operate to monitor such internal uses and adopt reduction actions. Table 1 shows the internal water consumption in 2022 divided by type of use.

Table 1. Internal use of drinking water in BRK by type of use (2022)

INTERNAL USE OF DRINKING WATER TOTAL (M³)
Network clearance 30,800
Filters and decanters washing 7,494,035
Fire system / Supply for Fire Department 9,630
Offices, administrative areas and irrigation of gardens consumption 187,752
Others 3,127,405
Total 10,849,622

¹Others: Equipment washing, chemical preparation, watertightness testing, reservoir cleaning, water quality tests, quality discharges, among others

Among the various uses, the of Water Treatment Plants (WTP) filters and decanters washing is the most relevant. In this case, cleaning maneuvers are performed to ensure the quality of the treatment. BRK is implementing structural improvements that will reduce this use. Another action we are taking is to use reuse water for network clearance. In recent years, thanks to the application of reuse water, we have been able to reduce the demand for drinking water for this use by 51%. Reuse water is also being used in dilution of defoamers and polymers, pump cooling and outdoor washing. In 2022, the application of reuse water for operational purposes was 93,000 m³.

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