Optimising water use to reduce demand, improve cooling efficiency and safeguard supply at a Northern Italian manufacturing plant
A manufacturing company in Northern Italy sought to reduce its water footprint and improve energy efficiency within its operations. The plant operates in a region increasingly exposed to climate-related water stress. Reduced rainfall and alpine snowmelt, combined with declining groundwater levels, are contributing to drought conditions and threatening water resources. With the facility already operating near its permitted abstraction limit, our client faced the risk of reduced guaranteed water allocations.
The company commissioned Isle to understand how it could significantly reduce water consumption at the plant. Cooling is often one of the most water-intensive processes in industrial facilities; as such this was a primary focus of our work. However, day-to-day water use is often overlooked. Our team also identified a number of small adjustments and simple process changes that will provide meaningful savings.
We delivered a comprehensive assessment of the cooling system, highlighting water-efficiency opportunities and evaluating alternative cooling technologies. We also completed a technical and feasibility study which provided our client with clear guidance for decision-making.
Following the project’s completion, the client invited Isle to replicate the assessment across additional sites. This expansion will enable significant water savings across their operations, reducing environmental pressure and delivering ongoing cost benefits.
Benefits of Approach:
- On-site assessment: Our team performed detailed inspections of cooling towers, water treatment units, chemical dosing systems and chillers.
- Performance analysis: Following the initial assessment, we undertook a desktop study using simulation tools. Here, we evaluated the cooling towers’ performance and identified opportunities for improvement.
- Technology comparison: We performed simulations to evaluate evaporative cooling against adiabatic, dry, closed-circuit, and hybrid alternatives.
Specialist Services Involved:
- End-to-end cooling system expertise: Our team conducted full site surveys of cooling infrastructure, treatment systems, automation and operational practices.
- Advanced water & energy optimisation skills: Our team has deep technical capability to evaluate treatment performance, cycles of concentration, thermodynamic efficiency, automation controls, metering, and heat-pump integration.
- Independent technology and design evaluation: We provided independent expertise in assessing alternative cooling technologies and simulated impacts on water use, energy demand, cost, system footprint, and implementation requirements.
Resultados:
- Efficiency gains identified: A detailed cooling tower survey uncovered 11 opportunities for improvement. Our client’s primary action is to increase cycles of concentration by adjusting make-up water quality.
- Significant water savings projected: Our recommended measures will reduce the amount of water needed for cooling by ~28% (equivalent to ~5% of total site withdrawal). This will significantly improve the facility’s water resilience during periods of stress.
- Positive financial impact: Proposed improvements offer ~€640k–€780k annual savings in well water and sewer costs, with <€50k CAPEX cost due to minor civil work and software integration.
- Fit-for-the-future cooling strategy: Our independent assessment of alternative technologies confirmed that evaporative cooling remains the best option today. We identified that hybrid, adiabatic, and closed-circuit systems may be viable long-term solutions under extreme water-scarcity scenarios.
Key contact:
For enquiries and further information, please contact Antonia Frisia, Senior Technology Consultant at Isle.