July 31, 2024 (Veolia release) — As part of its GreenUp strategic plan, which makes innovation one of the levers for accelerating ecological transformation, Veolia is expanding its leading Hubgrade portfolio by launching Hubgrade Water Footprint, an innovative digital solution designed to help customers reduce their water footprint, water-related energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Hubgrade, Veolia’s unique range of digital services, provides data analytics, supervision, optimization and predictive systems for water, waste, energy and other environmental resources. Using the power of data and the most advanced AI technologies combined with our worldwide operational expertise, we tailor solutions for your specific ecological transformation journey, whether it’s decarbonization, depollution, or resource saving and regeneration.
Industrial processes around the world consume more than 1 billion cubic meters of water each year, leaving companies looking for ways to optimize water usage and accelerate ecological transformation. Hubgrade Water Footprint offers full visibility into water operations, including true water cost, water use ratio, and water balance, by combining real-time, in-field data, artificial intelligence, and best-in-class domain expertise into a single resource.
"Traditional water audits only create a snapshot in time of water consumption at an industrial facility," said Bernie Anger, Chief Digital Officer at Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions. "Hubgrade Water Footprint goes beyond this steady-state representation of total cost of water and captures real-time emergence of water wastage events at a granular level to systematically identify and eliminate water inefficiency in a way that a traditional water audit cannot."
By using AI, the platform drives actionable insights that can be used for example to detect water wastage incidents in real time, enabling effective water risk management and providing recommendations to optimize the impact of energy consumption associated with water circuits, thereby reducing the overall carbon emissions of the facility.
Veolia piloted Hubgrade Water Footprint at one of its plants and created early wins like more than 20,000 kilograms of emissions reduced by piped natural gas (PNG) usage. Hubgrade Water Footprint is the latest step of an ecological transformation at this facility, which included a 72,000-kilowatt-hour savings through solar power and more than 3,000 cubic meters of harvested rainwater.
In 2024, Hubgrade Water Footprint is expected to expand to more than 15 global Veolia sites to drive new sustainability efforts, in addition to partnering with clients to help them achieve their unique water neutrality goals. Veolia provided their expertise and customized recommendations needed to accelerate the client’s sustainability journey.
Veolia's innovative reporting tools also allow companies to set and track sustainability targets across teams, increasing transparency with regulators and stakeholders in adherence with local governance. Companies can also optimize operations and planning, ensured by Veolia's water expertise and customer success teams.
"By embracing water sustainability practices, enterprises secure long-term viability in an increasingly resource-constrained world," said Anger. "Hubgrade Water Footprint acts as a catalyst in the evolution toward ecological transformation, in line with our new strategic plan GreenUp.
"Drawing on decades of experience with over 50,000 connected assets across 5,000+ global sites, Veolia is well-positioned to help customers achieve sustainability goals that drive significant change. In 2022, Veolia saved 320 million cubic meters of water and reused 990 million cubic meters of treated wastewater.
Watch our latest video and learn more about how Hubgrade digital solutions make water processes smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
