As part of a corporate-wide total environmental management initiative, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is investigating methods of reducing water and energy usage at its production facilities. O’Brien & Gere was contracted by CCE, Corporate Environmental Engineering, to conduct a water conservation audit at the Needham Heights, MA bottling facility. The scope of work included reviewing typical daily operation at this facility including seasonal variations; reviewing major unit processes requiring water usage; developing schematics outlining water usage by process; measuring/estimating flow associated with each major unit process; identifying and evaluatin potential water conservation/reuse alternatives; and providing recommendations (short and long term) for water conservation/reuse at this facility that could be leveraged across other CCE facilities.

O'Brien & Gere concentrated on non-production process water usage as the primary area where conservation practices could be implemented, and schematics and figures were developed for areas where potential for improvement existed. In an effort to reduce water costs for high impact processes, O’Brien & Gere developed a list of prioritized recommendations, based on ease of implementation and expected reductions. Potential water usage reduction and associated cost savings from implementing the high priority short- and long-term recommendations were projected to be as much as 120,000 gpd and $100,000 - $200,000 annually.