Water

While the majority of our manufacturing processes are not water-intensive, clean water has become an increasingly scarce resource. As a result, we closely monitor how water is managed across ABB’s operations.

To assess our facilities according to the level of baseline water stress of the local watershed, we make use of the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct global water risk tool. Of the 332 ABB locations mapped in 2022, 36 face an extremely high level of water stress and 58 face a high level. The tool not only helps us assess water stress at our sites, but also the levels of groundwater depletion, flood risk and seasonal variability of water availability at our sites. All of this data informs our efforts to better manage water risk.

For all ABB sites in stressed watersheds, total water withdrawals in 2022 amounted to 1,112 kilotons, 39 percent of our total water withdrawal.

The use of closed-loop processes and other strategies to recycle or reuse water is the foundation of our approach to saving water. In 2022, such processes saved 65 percent of all industrial water use and 80 percent of all cooling water use at ABB sites worldwide. There are 13 projects currently under way to improve water management across ABB, with expected annual savings of 17 kilotons.