Sustainability

It is estimated that our planet has 1,386 trillion litres of water. Of this amount, about 2,5% is fresh water: 35 trillion litres. The vast majority of this fresh water is contained in ice caps or deep in the ground (2%) making these sources unavailable for direct consumption. This means that 0,5% is directly available as a fresh water source.

Unicef's report "Thirsting for a Future" shows that 36 countries are currently suffering from extreme water shortages. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that by 2025, half of the world's population will live in areas with permanent water scarcity. Water scarcity is caused by a complex set of fluctuating, interacting human and environmental factors. Examples are climate change, where natural water sources dry up due to prolonged heat. But also the rise of the sea level which leads to flooding and thus influences both the availability and the quality of usable water. One of the most important factors directly influenced by humans is the wasting and pollution of usable and safe water. When these factors are combined with a growing world population, a problem arises: water scarcity. As a result, water will become more valuable and litre prices will rise.

The food industry is one of the major users of fresh water. Much of this water is used for displacing product and cleaning production lines. It is often underestimated how much water is actually discharged. Water consumption is often not visible in a factory. This often makes it an underestimated problem.

FLUIVAC uses air as the basic medium with a small water injection for only the RINSE step. For displacing the product from a production line and pre-rinsing a production line, a minimal amount of water is used compared to conventional methods. The water consumption of producers will be reduced, which has both financial and sustainability advantages.