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 Climate Change

Water
Published on: July 31, 2020, 4:59 p.m.
How Grundfos plugs that leak
  • The first lake Grundfos has restored in Chennai: it plans more

By Sekhar Seshan. Consulting Editor, Business India

Green at heart’ and ‘passionate about water’ is how global water solutions major Grundfos describes itself. Putting its money where its mouth is, the Danish pump manufacturer applies its competency in moving, conserving, cleaning and bringing safe water to millions of people around the globe to develop energy-efficient solutions. These are used in buildings, water utility and industrial processes, and have applications for the commercial sector to create smart buildings, too.

With pumps accounting for 10 per cent of the world’s electrical energy consumption and up to 90 per cent of them being inefficient, Grundfos focuses on making energy-efficient solutions that help to save about 4 per cent of energy and two billion cubic meters of fresh water.

Its pumps are designed to meet all domestic and agricultural water requirements, and include a solar-powered system to supply water for both urban and rural societies. Going solar has led to a reduction in demand for fossil fuels, and in greenhouse gas emissions, leading to lowering the carbon footprint.

Water wastage due to leakages at distribution mains, service pipes and stand posts is very high across Indian metros, with Kolkata leading at a staggering 50 per cent. Chennai, with the lowest loss, accounts for 20 per cent water loss. To combat this, Grundfos introduced Demand Driven Distribution (DDD) to reduce leakage in water utilities and distribution networks.

DDD helps in reducing water leakage by up to 20 per cent, which also saves energy in pumping it. Intelligent water management solutions use sensors to analyse water demand for different areas in a city and allocate resources accordingly. 

The company’s intelligent pumps can operate optimally without frequent human intervention. Their real-time data analysis and predictive maintenance capabilities also ensure remote monitoring without physical on-site presence. It also designs its products so that they can be recycled: more than 95 per cent of each Grundfos pump’s components are recyclable.

In the belief that sustainability begins at home, Grundfos India’s headquarters in Chennai was the first commercial building in the country to be ‘LEED Gold’ certified, as long as 15 years ago. This rating was elevated to Platinum in 2013. It has also adopted rainwater harvesting, while recycling wastewater from its factory has helped realise the company’s closed-loop ambitions by making it a zero-discharge facility.

Grundfos also believes that some of the risks like droughts, associated with the current water crisis, can be mitigated by restoring the local water bodies. With Chennai having been at the epicentre of this crisis last year, the company restored a 2.5-acre pond in the city in April 2020. The restored pond is now a source of clean water for about 1,000 people, and will also improve the water table in the area. Says Ranganath N.K., Water Ambassador, Grundfos India: “We are looking at restoring more water bodies in Chennai in the coming years. 


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