TERI certifies ABB India’s Nelamangala campus ‘Water Positive’

It implemented an innovative approach to replenish more water than it consumes at the location

ABB, atechnology player that works with utility, industry, transportation and infrastructure customers in India, on Thursday said its Nelamangala unit has received a ‘Water Positive’ certification from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

“Our Nelamangala unit turning ‘Water Positive’ is a step towards continued resource conservation, in line with our 2030 global sustainability commitments.We are committed to implementing various other similar environment-friendly measures across our ABB India locations to bring about a sustainable change,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India.

In place of simply replacing the amount of water taken from the environment, the unit implemented an Innovative 6R approach towards ‘Water Positivity’ to replenish more water than it consumes at the location, the company said.

The approach includes initiatives such as rainwater use and recharge, reduction in the use of freshwater, water recycling, and real-time monitoring of water consumption, recharge, and saving. ABB’s Nelamangala unit currently has 17 rainwater recharge wells, two recharge ponds along with five cross wave technology-based recharge tanks. ABB products, such as water flow meters, were installed in the rainwater recharge system to capture real-time data, according to the company

To reduce consumption of water, ABB India installed water-efficient fixtures, restricted the use of turf in the landscape area, and planted drought-tolerant plants in 81% of the landscape area. The unit has provisions of rainwater tanks for rooftop runoff along with TERI-approved filtration to get suitable water for a variety of end-uses.

The campus has also achieved 85% of water recyclability with the help of an efficient Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and recycling the treated wastewater for use in gardening and washrooms, it claimed.

“The water positivity index for the Nelamangala plant is 1.24, which demonstrates our contribution towards replenishing a much greater quantity of water for the environment than withdrawals for our operation. The index also shows our enhanced dependency on secondary water sources such as treated wastewater, rainwater, etc. and lesser dependency on groundwater sources for our operation,’‘ the company further stated.