ABSTRACT The environmental drivers for improving the efficiency of water usage in manufacturing industry are strong. However, while a water reduction programme can initially produce worthwhile benefits with moderate effort, further significant reductions require change to product, process or operational planning. The investment risk represented by such changes may act as a disincentive for companies to proceed with water conservation efforts. To improve the situation a methodology and a supporting simulation tool for decision-making in water reduction investment is introduced in this work. The methodology is based on the concept of water usage efficiency introduced in previous work, which allows the identification of hotspots where the maximum gains from intervention can be achieved. The tool further supports a structured approach to ranking the feasibility and benefits of proposed interventions. A report is presented on application of the tool to the operations of a food-manufacturing company in India. The area with the greatest potential for improvement was identified as being water directly involved in the process of rice cooking, with the corresponding highest ranked intervention option being pre-soaking the rice. This option delivers the desired efficiency benefits while being lower cost than more technically involved interventions such as introducing water treatment equipment.

中文翻译：

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提高制造用水效率的决策工具

摘要 提高制造业用水效率的环境驱动力很强。然而，虽然节水计划最初可以通过适度的努力产生有价值的收益，但进一步的显着节水需要改变产品、流程或运营计划。这种变化所带来的投资风险可能会阻碍公司开展节水工作。为了改善这种情况，这项工作引入了一种用于减水投资决策的方法和支持模拟工具。该方法基于之前工作中引入的用水效率概念，它允许识别可以从干预中获得最大收益的热点。该工具进一步支持一种结构化的方法来对拟议干预措施的可行性和益处进行排序。报告介绍了该工具在印度一家食品制造公司的运营中的应用。改进潜力最大的区域被确定为直接参与煮饭过程的水，相应的排名最高的干预选项是预​​浸大米。与引入水处理设备等涉及更多技术的干预措施相比，此选项可提供所需的效率优势，同时成本更低。改进潜力最大的区域被确定为直接参与煮饭过程的水，相应的排名最高的干预选项是预​​浸大米。与引入水处理设备等涉及更多技术的干预措施相比，此选项可提供所需的效率优势，同时成本更低。改进潜力最大的区域被确定为直接参与煮饭过程的水，相应的排名最高的干预选项是预​​浸大米。与引入水处理设备等涉及更多技术的干预措施相比，此选项可提供所需的效率优势，同时成本更低。