Reducing Water Use

In 2011, for the second consecutive year, we achieved a slight reduction in total water use.

Water savings were achieved in 2011 by our Hillsboro, Oceanside and Vacaville sites.

Water use was up slightly at our South San Francisco (SSF) facility due to an increase in manufacturing activity at this location.Water use reduction is an important focus area for our sustainability program. By 2014, compared with a 2009 baseline, our SSF site is targeting a 10% reduction in total water use in its non-manufacturing buildings (about 50% of the total site use) and a 10% reduction in water use in its manufacturing buildings normalized by production output.

During 2011, SSF successfully executed a project to capture RO reject water and to use that water in a falling film cooling tower. The rewards of this project will be realized in 2012 and beyond through the savings of millions of gallons of water. Additionally, during 2011, a water optimization study was performed in SSF. The results of the study will be used to execute new water conservation projects that will reap significant additional savings in 2012 and beyond.