Analysis
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Manufacturing industries
Intake water – Source, purpose and treatment
Total water intake by Canadian manufacturing industries in 2009 was 3,806.2 million cubic metres. As indicated in Chart 1, five industries accounted for almost 95% of the 2009 intake. The largest quantity of water withdrawn was by the paper industries, at 41.9% of the total. This was followed by the primary metal industries at 27.7% and the chemical industries at 8.8% of the total water intake by manufacturing industries. The food industries accounted for 8.7% of water withdrawals and the petroleum and coal industries, another 7.9%.
Geographically, manufacturers located in Ontario and Quebec accounted for most of the water intake, with Ontario taking 38.8% of the total and Quebec responsible for another 25.6% of the total. British Columbia manufacturers took a 15.9% share of the total intake and the Prairies were responsible for 9.5%. When the results are aggregated by drainage region, 55.3% of water intake was derived from the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence basin. The Pacific Coastal basin and the Fraser – Lower Mainland basin combined for 10.9% of the total water intake.
Self-supplied surface freshwater (lakes, rivers, etc.) was the source of 75.2% of manufacturers' water supply and 14.3% came from public utilities (that also tend to source from surface freshwater). The paper industries accounted for 46.0% of the surface freshwater withdrawals and the primary metal industries took another 34.7%. The food industry took 31.5% of the water from public utilities, followed by the paper industries that took another 30.5%.
Geographically, 45.1% of the surface freshwater taken by manufacturers occurred in Ontario and 24.3% was taken in Quebec. British Columbia accounted for another 16.9%. Quebec manufacturers were responsible for 38.7% of the water intake from public utilities and Ontario took 30.9% of the total. These results are also reflected by drainage region where 67.3% of manufacturers' withdrawals from public utilities occurred in the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence drainage region and 59.3% of the surface freshwater withdrawn also came from that drainage region.
The major purposes of the initial use of water by manufacturers are for process (47.3% of total intake) and for cooling, condensing and steam (42.0% of the total). The paper industries used 73.1% of their water intake for processing and 22.8% for cooling, condensing and steam. The primary metal industries, on the other hand, used 29.2% for processing and 55.0% for cooling, condensing and steam.
Many manufacturing establishments need to treat their water before it can be used in their processes or for cooling, condensing or steam generation. Often they must use several treatment processes, such as screening, followed by filtration and chlorination, prior to using the water. This can result in the same intake water being counted several times if it has been used in several treatment processes, which must be kept in mind when examining Table 6.
Tables
Table 1 Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, by industry group, 2009
Table group 2Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, 2009
Table 3 Water intake in manufacturing industries, by month and industry group, 2009
Table 4 Water intake in manufacturing industries, by source and industry group, 2009
Table group 5Water intake in manufacturing industries, by source, 2009
Table 6 Intake water treatment in manufacturing industries, by type of treatment and industry group, 2009
Table 7 Water intake in manufacturing industries, by purpose of initial use and industry group, 2009
Water recirculation
In this survey, water recirculation is defined as the process of using the same water more than once by the facility. The water must leave a system or sub-system and re-enter it or be used in a different sub-system. The recirculation of water reduces the need for the facility to take in "new" water.
The 2009 survey indicates 2,003.3 million cubic metres of water was reported as recirculated water. The primary metals industry accounted for 51.4% of this volume of recirculated water. The paper industries reported recirculation volumes representing 35.4% of the total.
The recirculation rate for manufacturing (recirculated water as a percentage of intake) stood at 52.6%. The primary metals industry indicated a recirculation rate of 97.9%.
Tables
Table 1 Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, by industry group, 2009
Table group 2Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, 2009
Table 8 Water recirculation in manufacturing industries, by purpose and industry group, 2009
Wastewater – Treatments and points of discharge
Total water discharged by the manufacturing industries was 3,450.6 million cubic metres. Most of this water (75.1%) was discharged to surface freshwater bodies and to tidewater (11.0%). The balance was discharged to public/municipal sewers, groundwater or other points.
Respondents were asked to report only the highest level of treatment their discharge underwent. This was done in order to eliminate double-counting of water that underwent more than one treatment type and to highlight the most advanced treatment. Of the water discharged by manufacturers, 38.1% was not treated before being released. The most advanced level of treatment for 16.6% of the total discharge was primary treatment while 36.9% of the total effluent underwent secondary or biological treatment as its highest level of treatment before discharge. Only 8.4% underwent tertiary or advanced treatment.
The paper industries accounted for 45.2% of the total water discharged by manufacturers and 80.1% of their discharge went to surface freshwater bodies. The paper industries put 72.2% of their water discharge through secondary or biological treatment. The primary metal industries were responsible for 26.4% of the total water discharged by manufacturers with surface freshwater bodies the destination for 92.4% of their discharge. Just over half of their discharge (50.2%) went untreated with 17.0% undergoing primary or mechanical treatment while the remaining 32.7% underwent secondary or biological treatment or tertiary or advanced treatment. The petroleum and coal industries were responsible for 7.9% of total manufacturing water discharge with 67.2% of their discharged water going to the freshwater surfaces. Of this discharge, 27.7% underwent no treatment with 57.8% undergoing primary or mechanical treatment while the remaining 14.5% underwent secondary or biological treatment or tertiary or advanced treatment.
Distribution of water discharge by geographic location reflects a similar trend as water intake in that the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence drainage region and the Maritime Coastal drainage region not only saw the largest water withdrawals, but also the largest discharges.
Tables
Table 1 Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, by industry group, 2009
Table group 2Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, 2009
Table 9 Water discharge in manufacturing industries, by point of discharge and industry group, 2009
Table group 10Water discharge in manufacturing industries, by point of discharge, 2009
Table 11 Water discharge in manufacturing industries, by type of final treatment and industry group, 2009
Table group 12Water discharge in manufacturing industries, by type of final treatment, 2009
Water consumption
Water consumption (intake minus discharge) provides an indication of the amount of water lost during production, most commonly through the incorporation of water into the products or through evaporation. The consumption rate expresses this consumption as a percentage of water intake.
In 2009, water consumption for manufacturing industries was estimated at 355.6 million cubic metres or 9.3% of the total water intake of 3,806.2 million cubic metres. Of this total water consumption, the primary metals industries were the largest consumers of water, consuming 140.5 million cubic metres or 39.5% of the total consumed water. The chemicals industries were the next largest consumers of water at 94.5 million cubic metres or 26.6% of the total consumed water.
Tables
Table 1 Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, by industry group, 2009
Table group 2Water use parameters in manufacturing industries, 2009
Water costs
The Industrial Water Survey collected cost information on the acquisition of water, on the treatment of intake water before use, on wastewater treatments and on costs related to the recirculation of water. Excluded from the determination of water costs were capital costs or depreciation of self-supplied water acquisition facilities. The costs of water acquisition were defined to include amounts paid to public utilities for water, amounts paid to provincial or territorial ministries for a licence to take water and for operation and maintenance costs incurred in the upkeep of self-supplied water acquisition facilities. The cost of wastewater treatment was defined as the operation and maintenance costs of in-house treatment, though it may include sewer surcharges by the public utilities.
The cost of water acquisition in 2009 was $392.1 million. The largest portion of the acquisition costs was attributable to public utilities, which accounted for 76.6% of the total costs. Payments for operation and maintenance costs were responsible for another 22.6% of the total acquisition costs while licensing fees contributed only 0.7% of the total.
At the national level, water acquisition was responsible for 35.7% of the total water costs. However, acquisition costs in Ontario accounted for 46.4% of total water costs in that province.
Costs for treatment of intake water before it was used totalled $169.2 million. Almost 86% of these costs were borne by five industries, with the chemicals industries paying 33.3% of the total, paper industries at 31.8%, food industries at 9.2%, petroleum and coal industries at 5.8% and primary metal industries spending 5.7%.
The costs related to the recirculation of water were $84.3 million in 2009. The primary metals industries spent $35.5 million on the recirculation of water and the paper industries spent $25.5 million.
The total 2009 cost of wastewater treatment was $452.2 million. Of this total, the paper industries spent $189.3 million or 41.9%. The food industries spent $91.7 million or 20.3% of the total and the chemical industries accounted for $72.7 million or 16.1% of the total spent on the treatment of water discharge. The primary metals industries spent $49.3 million or 10.9% of the total.
Total water costs in the manufacturing industries in 2009 were $1,097.7 million. As indicated in Chart 2, costs for the treatment of effluent accounted for 41.2% of the total costs while treatment of intake water before it was used represented another 15.4% of total costs. Costs related to the acquisition of water were 35.7% of total costs and costs related to the recirculation of water were another 7.7% of the total.
Tables
Table 13 Water acquisition costs in manufacturing industries, by industry group, 2009
Table group 14Water acquisition costs in manufacturing industries, 2009
Table 15 Total water costs in manufacturing industries, by water cost component and industry group, 2009
Table group 16Total water costs in manufacturing industries, by water cost component, 2009
Mining industries
Total water intake by the mining industries surveyed in 2009 was 497.2 million cubic metres. Most of this water (74.9%) was withdrawn by the metal mines. The amount of water recirculated by the mining industries was 1,547.7 million cubic metres, which when combined with the volume of water intake, resulted in gross water use of 2,044.9 million cubic metres. The recirculation rate of water in 2009 was 311.3%. The total volume of water discharged by the mining industries surveyed in 2009 was 620.4 million cubic metres. The discharge volumes were higher than the intake volumes of water due to the necessity of many operators to de-water their mines of groundwater in order to carry out their operations. This "mine water" amounted to 235.8 million cubic metres in 2009.
The source for most water withdrawn by the mining industries (77.2%) was self-supplied surface freshwater (i.e, rivers, lakes). Process water was the major use for water in the mining industries, accounting for 72.5% of the total intake. Another 16.8% was used for cooling, condensing and steam. Almost all water recirculated (98.1%) by the mining industry was used for process activities.
In the same way that most water intake was sourced from surface freshwater, most wastewater discharge (72.8%) was returned to surface freshwater. Another 10.8% was discharged to tailing ponds while 9.0% was discharged to groundwater. Most of the discharge to tailing ponds was made by metal mines. Of the total 620.4 million cubic metres of water discharged by mining operations, 59.9% was not treated before discharge and 31.2% underwent primary or mechanical treatment. Tertiary or advanced treatments were given to 8.8% of wastewater and 0.2% underwent secondary or biological treatments.
Total costs related to water use in the mining industries in 2009 was $165.7 million dollars. Costs for the treatment of effluent accounted for 42.6% of the total costs while treatment of intake water before it was used represented another 11.3% of total costs. Costs related to the acquisition of water were 16.8% of total costs and costs related to the recirculation of water were another 29.3% of the total.
Tables
Table 17 Water use parameters in mineral extraction industries, by industry group and region, 2009
Table 18 Water intake in mineral extraction industries, by month and region, 2009
Table 19 Water intake in mineral extraction industries, by source, industry group and region, 2009
Table 20 Intake water treatment in mineral extraction industries, by type of treatment, industry group and region, 2009
Table 21 Water intake in mineral extraction industries, by purpose of initial use, industry group and region, 2009
Table 22 Water recirculation in mineral extraction industries, by purpose, industry group and region, 2009
Table 23 Water discharge in mineral extraction industries, by point of discharge, industry group, region and type of final treatment, 2009
Table 24 Water discharge in mineral extraction industries, by type of final treatment, industry group and region, 2009
Table 25 Water acquisition costs in mineral extraction industries, by industry group and region, 2009
Table 26 Total water costs in mineral extraction industries, by water cost component, industry group and region, 2009
Thermal-electric power producers
Producers of thermal-electric power were the largest users of water in the industrial sectors covered by this survey, with almost all of the water (99.3%) used for cooling, condensing and steam. Total water intake by this industry was 26,345.5 million cubic metres. The volume of water recirculated in this industry was 4,220.0 million cubic metres, which when combined with water withdrawals equal gross water use of 30,565.5 million cubic metres. Total discharge of water was 25,838.4 million cubic metres, of which 94.6% went to surface freshwater bodies. Most of this water (58.9%) was not treated before discharge.
Total costs of water for the thermal-electric power generators were $161.0 million. Costs related to the acquisition of water accounted for 49.1% of the total costs. Included in these acquisition costs are payments to public utilities, operation and maintenance costs related to acquiring water and licencing or permit fees required to acquire water. Costs related to the treatment of intake water accounted for 36.3% of the total costs and costs related to the recirculation of water accounted for 8.7%. The remaining 5.9% of costs were attributable to the discharge of water.
Tables
Table 27 Water use parameters in thermal-electric power generation industries, by region, 2009
Table 28 Water intake in thermal-electric power generation industries, by month and region, 2009
Table 29 Water intake in thermal-electric power generation industries, by source and region, 2009
Table 30 Intake water treatment in thermal-electric power generation industries, by type of treatment and region, 2009
Table 31 Water intake in thermal-electric power generation industries, by purpose of initial use and region, 2009
Table 32 Water recirculation in thermal-electric power generation industries, by purpose and region, 2009
Table 33 Water discharge in thermal-electric power generation industries, by point of discharge, region and type of final treatment, 2009
Table 34 Water discharge in thermal-electric power generation industries, by type of final treatment and region, 2009
Table 35 Water acquisition costs in thermal-electric power generation industries, by region, 2009
Table 36 Total water costs in thermal-electric power generation industries, by water cost component and region, 2009
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