New Treatment Systems Help Cummins Plants Significantly Cut Water Use
No, the greenhouse at Cummins’ Rocky Mount Engine Plant (RMEP) doesn’t mean the company is diversifying into fruits and vegetables.
Two Cummins plants are putting new treatment systems to work to reduce their use of municipal water by about a third.
The company’s plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, is using a multi-faceted system, including hydroponics in a greenhouse, to return more wastewater to the plant for non-potable use, enabling the plant to reduce its purchases of municipal water.
Another new system at Cummins’ plant in Jamestown, New York, doesn’t employ hydroponics, but is also sending more wastewater back to the plant and reducing its municipal water use.
Collectively, the two plants are expected to save around 25 million gallons annually and produce lessons for other sites exploring new systems. It’s one of several initiatives the company is working on to reach its 2030 environmental goals.
The goals call for reducing absolute water consumption in facilities and operations companywide by 30% by 2030, or more than 200 million gallons annually. The projects will likely play an important role in reaching the goals established in PLANET 2050, Cummins’ environmental sustainability strategy to reduce the company’s impact on the climate and other environmental challenges.
