Full-Cost-of-Water Model Contributing to Conservation Efforts

Water is essential to pulp and paper production – our mills use it to wash and transport pulp, dilute and prepare process chemicals, make steam and electricity, carry raw materials through the mill and clean and cool equipment.

All of our mills are located in watersheds with ample water supplies. While we have access to abundant water supplies today, we don’t take this resource for granted.

When we consider the cost to pump, filter, chemically treat, demineralize, heat, reuse and clean the water again before we return it to the watershed, we are reminded that water is anything but free. That is why we spent the past few years working together with our environmental, finance, energy and mill operations teams to develop a model to quantify the “full cost” of using water in our pulp and paper manufacturing processes.

Understanding the site-specific cost of using water helps us to better focus our efforts and resources on conservation in areas where they will do the most good. It also helps make the case for water, energy and resource conservation projects that previously may not have been funded using traditional return-on-investment calculations and models.

Domtar has used our full-cost-of-water model to support recent investments in water-related projects at two mills:

Our plan over the next several years is to build on the momentum and support we have received from our mills and senior leadership team on our full-cost-of-water work for which we have already realized improved resource efficiency and cost savings. This work is expected to include:

• Completing full cost of water assessments at all mills.
• Deploying and more systematically utilizing the model results in water and energy conservation investment project justifications across our mill system.
• Expanding the scope of our current “gate-to-gate” full-cost-of-water model to incorporate the “cost” of local, upstream water risks scenarios.

By “following the money” and understanding the more complete costs of using water, we are able to educate our employees on the true value of water conversation and equip our local managers to make more sustainable resource management and investment decisions.