Water Consumption
We recognize that the consumption of fresh water by various community, industrial, and agricultural interests is an issue reaching critical proportions in many areas of the world. Alcoa has been implementing a sustainable water management strategy since 2000, when we set long-term, global objectives to reduce our process water requirements.
Reducing the use of fresh water in our operations will achieve two things: 1) make more water available to the communities in which we operate, and 2) reduce the volume of wastewater to be discharged or managed under increasingly strict regulatory requirements. At Alcoa Canada Global Primary Products, our facilities are equipped with systems for reducing water consumption and wastewater generation. Our wastewater treatment systems enable us to reuse the water in our processes.
Water consumption at the Deschambault Smelter is particularly low because the plant is equipped with a system that recycles process water and recovers rainwater.
Water quality
Although there is still some wastewater generated, there is less of it, and it is treated and regularly checked to ensure we meet required standards while minimizing our environmental impact. The Baie-Comeau and Bécancour smelters run a closed-loop water management system—which produces zero waste water—in their carbon sectors. The cooling waters are recycled and treated at the casthouse, and only the treated purge waters are discharged into the environment. Our Deschambault Smelter is equipped with a zero process water discharge system.
