• Ford outlined its water sustainability program at the “Sustainability Blues” event, part of Ford’s fourth annual trend conference, “Go Further with Ford”
• Todd Walton, environmental quality manager, Ford Asia Pacific, was joined by third-party thought leaders at the event to discuss the rising global issue of water scarcity
• Ford named water scarcity an influential and growing trend, highlighting its water initiatives across Asia Pacific and how they were benefiting communities in high-risk areas

Global water-saving strategies were outlined in front of lifestyle and automotive journalists during Ford’s “Sustainability Blues” event, which formed part of this year’s “Go Further with Ford” trend conference in Dearborn, Michigan on June 24-26. The discussion focused on water conservation, a main pillar in Ford’s global green mission.  

Todd Walton, environmental quality manager, Asia Pacific, Ford Motor Company, was joined by thought leaders Christoph Gorder, president of Charity: Water, George McGraw, the founder of DigDeep, and Rob Frederick, director of corporate responsibility for wine and spirits company Brown-Forman, to share strategies for protecting and managing the Earth’s water resources.

“For more than a decade Ford has been committed to decreasing its water footprint,” said Walton. “Using water-saving initiatives across its global facilities, the company has reduced water use in everything from cooling towers to paint operations, resulting in a 62% drop in total global water consumption between 2000 and 2012 – a saving of 10.6 billion gallons.”

Walton outlined Ford’s newly announced global water strategy and how pioneering technologies and supply chain management are already saving water in some of the most water-scarce regions on the planet. In Asia Pacific, the Chennai Vehicle Assembly and Engine Plant in Tamil Nadu, India, now discharges zero wastewater and recycles the maximum amount of water for re-use in the production process.

In the Changan Ford Engine Plant and the newly opened Transmission Plant in Chongqing, a new technique called Minimum Quantity Lubricant drastically reduces coolant and water use compared to conventional wet machining. For a production line producing 450,000 engines, this technology saves around 282,000 gallons of water per year.  

“Ford has been growing in many areas of the world where water access and availability are a concern,” said Walton. “So we’ve been actively working there to help people get access to fresh drinking water. In India, we have launched projects to install water filters in government-run pre-school centers for children and primary schools near our plants. We also run campaigns to communicate the importance of clean drinking water for children.”

Ford was ranked No.1 in a survey of the world’s Best Green Brands, by brand consultancy Interbrand and auditing firm Deloitte. The award recognized Ford’s commitment to water conservation and commended its transparency when addressing the issue of water use in manufacturing. Ford executives recently signed the CEO Water Mandate, expanding the company’s commitment to water conservation and the environment. The company also announced it has cut water use since 2009 per vehicle by 30% globally, two years ahead of schedule.

Water scarcity is a rising issue globally. More than 780 million people live without access to fresh drinking water. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Ford believes that re-thinking how we value water and disclosing industrial use is a critical first step in reducing these strains and safeguarding future water supplies. A copy of Ford’s 2014 Sustainability Report, with full details on Ford’s green initiatives and commitment to environmentally responsible manufacturing and water conservation, can be downloaded here.