ABB India turns its Nelamangala Campus ‘Water Positive’

ABB India announced that its Nelamangala unit has received a ‘Water Positive’ certification from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

In place of simply replacing the amount of water taken from the environment, the unit implemented an Innovative 6R approach towards ‘Water Positivity’ to replenish more water than it consumes at the location.

The unique 6R approach includes initiatives such as rainwater use and recharge, reduction in the use of freshwater, water recycling, and real-time monitoring of water consumption, recharge, and saving.

The Nelamangala unit currently has 17 rainwater recharge wells, 2 recharge ponds along with 5 cross wave technology-based recharge tanks. ABB products such as water flow meters were installed in the rainwater recharge system to capture real-time data.

To reduce consumption of water, ABB India installed water-efficient fixtures, restricted the use of turf in the landscape area, and planted drought-tolerant plants in 81 percent of the landscape area. The unit has provisions of rainwater tanks for rooftop runoff along with TERI-approved filtration to get suitable water for a variety of end-uses.

The campus has achieved close to 85 percent of water recyclability with the help of efficient Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and recycling the treated wastewater for use in gardening and washrooms.

The water positivity index for Nelamangala plant is 1.24, which demonstrates our contribution towards replenishing much greater quantity of water for the environment than withdrawals for our operation.

The index also shows our enhanced dependency on secondary water sources such as treated wastewater, rainwater, etc. and lesser dependency on groundwater sources for our operation.

“At ABB, ‘sustainability in practice’ is at the core of everything we do. It is a key part of our company’s purpose and of the value that we create for our customers, employees, and all our stakeholders. Our Nelamangala unit turning ‘Water Positive’ is a step towards continued resource conservation, in line with our 2030 global sustainability commitments.  We are committed to implementing various other similar environment-friendly measures across our ABB India locations to bring about a sustainable change,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India.

“In times of a severe water crisis in India, I am pleased to acknowledge that TERI has awarded India’s first water positivity certificate to ABB India, for one of their six factories in the country. I look forward to witnessing more partnerships in the sector and development of innovative solutions to manage and monitor natural resources on Earth,” added Sanjay Seth, Senior Director - Sustainable Habitat Programme, TERI, & CEO, GRIHA Council.