Rational Use of Water Program

This program deals with projects to rationalize the use of water. We implemented a project in one of our units and expanded to the other units.

Rainwater Harvesting

Ypê has a program to rationalize water use, which annually incorporates projects that minimize the water consumption of its units. Water is the main raw material of most products developed by Ypê and that’s the reason to this resource has always been treated rationally and consciously.

Ypê has tanks to collect rainwater in four of its five productive units, which a storage capacity of about 10.8 million liters. This water is captured from the roofs of our industrial sheds, treated and reused as industrial water to make our products.

In 2014, we had the opportunity to capture 10% of the total water used to our activities. This volume represents the amount of water needed to supply 35,851 people for 30 days. (Considering UN data – 110L / person / day)

Wastewater Reuse

Ypê has wastewater treatment in all of its units.

The reuse of wastewater (after the purification): in the Ypê facilities, all the water coming from the production processes and domestic sewage are treated so that it is reused in the industrial processes and/or gardening. This activities avoids the pollution of water sources, reduces water consumption and guarantees the regional ecosystem, a measure of responsibility within a global vision of environmental protection.

In 2014, a project implemented by Ypê was the dewatering system for the sludge from the Water Treatment Plant (ETA), which resulted in a 10% reduction in the water consumption of the Amparo Unit. This project began to be thought in 2011. The ETA’s sludge dewatering system has three important characteristics: it maintains the productivity with the lowest natural resources consumption, allows the reuse of water at a lower cost and still generates a composting residue. The initiatives for the rational use of water bring great reduction in the Ypê units. In Salto (SP), for example, the reduction of water consumption in 2014 was 27%, in Anápolis (GO) the reduction was 20%, in Simões Filho (BA) the reduction was 10% and in Amparo (SP), our headquarters and largest unit, in the last 4 years, despite increasing our production by 6%, we reduced the water catchment of the Camanducaia river by 8%.