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When the 100-year-old milk manufacturing factory in Booval doubled its production volume in early 2006, water consumption also increased.
Keen to find a more efficient way to manage waste resulting from the high production volumes, the team at Booval submitted its Water Efficiency Management Plan to Ipswich Water early last year.
As an ongoing initiative, the team at Ipswich Water worked closely with management and employees of Dairy Farmers to implement various water efficiency projects and to undertake business changes to reduce the factory’s water consumption.
Come 2008 and the data speaks for itself – water consumption has dropped by 25 per cent and is continuing to fall.
Ipswich City Council City Works Committee Chairperson Councillor Trevor Nardi said council was strongly focused on working in co-operation with local businesses to find ways to make additional water savings to the mandatory targets set by the Queensland Water Commission (QWC).
Cr Nardi said finding these additional waters savings was important for the Ipswich community.
“Any savings we make strengthens our reputation as world class water savers in South East Queensland.”
Cr Nardi said he congratulated Dairy Farmers, on behalf of Council, for the effort it had put into achieving the impressive water savings.
“It demonstrates that businesses can continue to operate successfully while embracing waterwise practices.
“We hope that more Ipswich businesses and industries will follow the fine example which Dairy Farmers has set.”
Dairy Farmers’ Environmental Manager Ian Fedrick said the water saving measures have resulted tens of mega litres of water per annum remaining in South East Queensland’s dams thanks to the Booval team’s and Ipswich Water’s efforts.
“Dairy Farmers has now set a new target of one litre of water per litre of milk produced, which will equate to an overall water reduction of more than 40 per cent from where we started out,” Mr Fedrick said.
Dairy Farmers also identified that aside from the benefits to the community and the environment of reduced water usage, the high cost of water meant that the team had been able to save the Booval factory about $150,000 during the past year.
