Holistic Water Use Assessment for Automotive Manufacturing in a Water-Stressed Region

摘要

Based on the evaluations of the Saltillo Complex's water concession title, well and aquifer capacities, and availability of supplemental water rights from third parties, a number of potential issues exist with attempting to increase the water supply to the facility. While the current extraction wells likely have the capacity to provide increased flow, the aquifer itself may be limiting, and water quality is of potential concern. In addition, CONAGUA is limiting withdrawals from the aquifer, which could complicate an attempt to increase current concession volumes. The acquisition of additional water rights from third parties also presents potential legal and financial challenges. Therefore, the preferred approach to securing sufficient water supply to meet future production demand is to increase the efficiency of current water usage at the complex. The WKB audit of the most water-intensive areas of the complex yielded an array of potential water conservation and reuse opportunities. Arcadis has provided a recommended approach to project implementation based on relative complexity, cost, and return on investment which is estimated to provide approximately 30% reduction of water use at the complex. This reduction would provide ample capacity within the existing water concession available to the complex to support the imminent increase in production at the complex and eliminates the need to identify and secure an additional water supply.