Water Conservation at Domtar: Our Process From River to Mill
As published in the Domtar Newsroom
Pulp and paper manufacturing is a water-intensive process. All of our mills are located in watersheds with sufficient supplies, but responsible water management and water conservation will always be a significant part of our sustainability efforts at Domtar.
In 2017, our mills used enough water to fill 164,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Although our mills have access to sufficient water from local rivers and lakes, that water is not immediately suitable for pulp and paper making and requires both mechanical and chemical treatment.
How we treat water differs at each location and depends on factors such as:
- Natural water chemistry
- Effluent from upstream users
- Surrounding land use
- Season of the year
- Weather events, including droughts and floods
- Which products the mill makes
But there are some steps in our water management process that are consistent from location to location.
