Leading the way in water efficiency

Water usage in the West Pilbara is approximately 13 billion litres each year, with industry using approximately half of this amount.

At Dampier Operations, we’ve placed a real focus on reducing our water consumption over the past two years and through a range of initiatives have reduced water use on site by more than 40 per cent.

Scott Crane, Supervisor Projects at Dampier Operations said as a company we now have a clearer picture of where water is being used on site.

“At Dampier Operations we used meters to identify high usage areas. The use of potable water to remove salt was the main culprit,” Scott said.

Employee behaviour has also changed. “Our employees now respond to water leaks extremely well and all 100 staff are playing their part.

“We also did a lot of work tracing underground leaks, which had been leading to significant water loss on site,” he said

With a 40 per cent improvement under the belt, teams are not about to stop looking for water saving opportunities. Across the company we are looking at a range of new initiatives to reduce water use on site and assessing which actions will have the biggest impact.

These initiatives may eventually include increasing the component of salt water used at the site truck wash, used to rid vehicles of road grime.