In a world where the climate crisis and water scarcity threaten both industrial competitiveness and community security, continuing to operate under a linear water consumption model is no longer viable. The automotive sector, highly dependent on this resource, faces growing regulatory restrictions, rising costs, and the tangible risk of supply disruptions. Every cubic meter lost not only implies an economic cost: it represents a missed opportunity to regenerate, reuse, and demonstrate leadership. This project responds with a transformative intervention that converts effluents into a strategic resource, aligned with the demands of a new circular water economy.
The initiative is located in Betim, Minas Gerais, one of Brazil’s most important industrial regions and also one of the most vulnerable in terms of water stress. The industrial facility covers 55,000 m², employs more than 1,400 workers, and produces over one million engine components annually. Until now, operations relied on groundwater extraction and supply from the public utility, with industrial effluents sent for external treatment. In this context, the proposed solution will allow the recovery of 3,500 m³/month of water, equivalent to 42 million liters per year, the annual consumption of more than 14,000 people, through a unified advanced treatment plant. This represents a qualitative leap that reduces aquifer extraction, lowers operating costs, and eliminates the need to transport effluents off-site.
The strategic objective is clear: to transform an environmental liability into a regenerative asset, reduce vulnerabilities, and position the operation as a reference in sustainable water management. Partnerships with technology operators, the public utility, and the local community ensure governance, traceability, and intentionality. Under the principles of Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA 2.0) and Water Quality Benefit Accounting (WQBA), every cubic meter recovered will be tracked with technical rigor and external validation, ensuring that the benefit is additional, measurable, and replicable. This project not only changes how production occurs, it redefines how industry can coexist with its communities and local watershed.
he challenge faced here is representative of thousands of industries: overexploited aquifers, dependence on external sources with rising tariffs, and an overloaded internal treatment system limiting operational capacity. Pressure on the Betim and Paraopeba river basins has intensified over recent decades, creating conflicts among industrial, agricultural, and residential users. Added to this are stricter regulatory risks and higher reputational exposure.
The technical opportunity arises from implementing a Unified Effluent Treatment Plant with an advanced route: physico-chemical processes via dissolved air flotation (DAF), biological treatment through activated sludge, membrane bioreactor (MBR) filtration, and a final reverse osmosis (RO) stage. This scheme will treat 5,760 m³/month and safely recover 60% of that volume for internal uses such as cooling towers, equipment washing, machinery cleaning, and site maintenance. In the short term, the plant will reduce primary water extraction and eliminate external effluent disposal. In the medium and long term, it will consolidate industrial water resilience, enabling sustained production even under severe drought or regulatory crisis scenarios.
Direct benefits are quantifiable: 42 million liters reused annually, significant cost reductions, elimination of external discharges, and strengthened social license to operate. The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) business model ensures investment and technology transfer, while physical and digital traceability guarantees benefit validation under VWBA 2.0. Automotive and other high-water-demand industries will find in this model a replicable approach that balances competitiveness with sustainability. Acting now is not only a strategic choice: it is the difference between lagging in a transitioning market or leading a future-oriented narrative where water is managed as a regenerative asset.
The technical solution centers on the construction of a Unified Effluent Treatment Plant (ETE), specifically designed to recover and regenerate water from industrial processes. This infrastructure combines advanced physico-chemical processes (such as dissolved air flotation), activated sludge biological treatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR) filtration, and a final reverse osmosis (RO) stage that guarantees the highest quality of water for industrial reuse. The unified nature of the ETE means all treatment stages are integrated in one facility, reducing operational complexity and ensuring traceability. Conventional and tertiary treatment alternatives were evaluated and discarded due to lower efficiency and limited traceability. The nominal capacity of the ETE is 5,760 m³/month, with an expected recovery of 60%, positioning it as a hybrid solution of gray and digital infrastructure, with integrated smart control systems that allow real-time operational adjustments and anticipate potential deviations.
Benefits include: annual savings of 42 million liters, reduced pollutant discharges, lower pressure on aquifers, improved drought resilience, and compliance with regulations. Socially, it strengthens community water security and builds trust through transparency. Economically, it reduces supply and external treatment costs, improves competitiveness, and provides verifiable ESG value, while enabling accounting of water benefits under VWBA/WQBA.
Operational risks (technological failures, hydrological variability) are mitigated with redundant systems, online monitoring, IoT alarms, and contingency protocols. Long-term climate resilience is ensured through a design adapted to extreme scenarios. The model can be replicated in other industrial plants or high-water-demand sectors, facilitated by its traceability, alignment with emerging regulations, and compatibility with global targets such as NPWI and Science Based Targets for Water.
Implementation is organized in detailed phased stages, with a technical schedule that provides transparency and accountability for each milestone. It begins with a three-month baseline diagnosis that documents historical consumption trends, physico-chemical and biological characterization of effluents, energy and chemical inputs, operating costs, and the performance of existing treatment systems. This stage establishes the reference point for VWBA and WQBA indicators, including extracted volume, pollutant concentrations, discharge pathways, and tariff structures. Baseline mapping also includes stakeholder consultation to integrate community and regulatory expectations.
The next stage is the executive design of the Unified Effluent Treatment Plant (ETE), a four-month phase where engineering blueprints, hydraulic balances, and risk simulations are prepared, ensuring compliance with local environmental regulations and alignment with ISO and AWS standards. The eight-month construction and installation stage follows, covering civil works, assembly of dissolved air flotation (DAF) units, activated sludge (LA) tanks, membrane bioreactor (MBR) modules, and reverse osmosis (RO) skids. This phase also integrates hydraulic and electrical connections to existing industrial circuits, installation of flow meters and multiparameter sensors, and digital architecture for SCADA and IoT monitoring.
Commissioning involves a two-month pilot with progressive flow testing, calibration of multiparameter probes, parameter optimization, and validation of treated water quality against WHO and national standards. Final validation enables continuous operation under the BOT model, with gradual technology transfer and operator training over a five-year horizon. During this period, preventive and predictive maintenance protocols are implemented to guarantee continuity of service.
Technology selection (DAF, LA, MBR, and RO) is justified by higher removal efficiencies for BOD, TSS, and trace metals, robustness under fluctuating influent loads, and capacity to guarantee reuse-grade water. Alternative conventional systems were evaluated but discarded due to lower efficiency and higher sludge generation. The monitoring system integrates SCADA with IoT sensors, predictive analytics, and blockchain-secured records, providing real-time alarms and ensuring full traceability.
Key KPIs include: cubic meters recovered, reuse percentage, pollutant reduction rates, energy and chemical consumption efficiency, operational cost savings, and compliance rates with regulatory and ESG standards. Governance is structured among the industrial operator, technology partner, public utility, and independent verifiers, with clearly defined roles for daily operation, regulatory reporting, maintenance, and external validation. Physical traceability is ensured through verified reuse routes and dedicated meters, while digital traceability is anchored in SCADA dashboards, blockchain certification, and third-party audits.
Continuous improvement is embedded through quarterly performance reviews, data-driven optimization, and planned technology upgrades. Results are benchmarked against with vs. without project scenarios under VWBA/WQBA, ensuring that the water benefits remain measurable, resilient, and scalable across time and adaptable to replication in other industrial sites.
The project consists of the construction and operation of a unified effluent treatment and reuse plant. The main intervention integrates four technical stages: dissolved air flotation (DAF) to remove solids and oils; activated sludge (LA) to degrade organic load; a membrane bioreactor (MBR) to refine effluent quality by eliminating fine solids and pathogens; and reverse osmosis (RO) to guarantee high-purity water for industrial reuse. The capacity of the Unified Effluent Treatment Plant (ETE) is 5,760 m³/month, with a recovery rate of 60%. It complies with local environmental regulations and international standards for safe reuse, including WHO guidelines, ISO 14046, and AWS certification.
This solution addresses a critical problem of aquifer overexploitation and rising water and treatment costs, replacing a linear model with a circular one. The baseline showed high groundwater consumption and costly external effluent disposal; after the intervention, effluents are converted into safe and useful water for industrial processes, reducing primary demand by 42 million liters annually. Results include reductions in BOD, TSS, and trace metals, elimination of external transport costs, and an improved water footprint for the facility.
Beyond environmental benefits, the project generates social impacts: it strengthens community water security by reducing pressure on the aquifer, contributes to public health by lowering pollutant discharges, and promotes qualified employment in operation and maintenance. Strategically, it reinforces the Water Positive roadmap, offering verifiable ESG benefits: stronger reputation, regulatory compliance, operational resilience, and competitive differentiation.
Replicability is high: the model can be adapted to other industrial plants in Brazil and worldwide under BOT schemes, provided technical conditions (effluents with high organic load, significant water stress) and social conditions (community acceptance and favorable regulatory framework) are met. Partnerships with technology providers, public utilities, and independent verifiers facilitate scaling.
The final impact is tangible: less pressure on the Betim basin, greater resilience to climate change, improved water security for industry and communities, and a powerful message to investors and society: industry can not only reduce its footprint, but also regenerate water and value in the watersheds where it operates.
