ENVIRONMENTAL sus ta inability
Specifc water consumption by breweries
hl water/hl beer
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
5.4
target
actual
Specifc water consumption by maltings
m3 water/tonne malt
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
4.2
4.4
5.6
5.7
target
actual
Surface water is used to a minor extent. Heineken's
brewery on the Bahamas uses seawater, which is
purified to drinking-water quality.
Water quality and availability are issues which
receive our constant attention. Every two years, a
survey is carried out to assess the quality and vulner
ability of our water sources. This involves analysing all
of the chemical parameters and comparing them with
international drinking-water guidelines such as those
published by the European Union and the World
Health Organisation. Although the 2003 survey
showed that, in some locations, the incoming water
was contaminated with heavy metals and/or solvents,
even in these cases Heineken's water-treatment
processes were able to raise the water to drinking-
water quality in accordance with the applicable
quality standards. The survey showed that water
availability had not changed since the previous sur
vey in 2001. At Heineken's request, a study was
Specific water consumption for soft-drink production
decreased to 3.3 hectolitres per hectolitre of soft
drinks, mainly due to the physical separation of the
beer and soft-drink production units at Skopje and
reduced operation of the C02 generator, and hence
reduced usage of water for cooling and cleaning, at
our plant in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Water sources
The production units draw most of the water they use
from the public utility supply or their own boreholes.
Shanghai Asia Pacific Breweries
Reducing water consumption
In 1999, Shanghai Asia Pacific
Breweries in China was using more
than 9 litres of water to brew one litre
of beer. By replacing its underground
piping system, using basic waste water
to remove sulphur dioxide from flue
gas, introducing computerised man
agement of its waste-water treatment
plant and adopting a numberof simple
practical measures, the brewery has
cut its consumption by 40 per cent,
while beer production has risen by a
similar percentage.
Water sources
ZHOU ZHI HUA
PUBLIC UTILITY
GROUNDWATER
SURFACE WATER
carried out by Prof. Dr. E.K. Duursma, Emeritus
Professor at Groningen University, to relate our
breweries' water consumption to rainfall within their
catchment areas. This resulted in the development of
a method for determining the hydrological footprint
of each brewery and predicting water availability.
Waste water
The water used as a consumable by our operating
companies is ultimately discharged as waste water.
Waste water from 68 per cent of our production units
is treated, either in their own on-site plants or in
municipal plants. Waste water from the other produc
tion units is discharged untreated into surface water.
Heineken has embarked on a programme to build
HEINEKEN N.V. S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y REPORT 2002-2003
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