Recycled water—case study: BlueScope Steel, Port Kembla Steelworks

BlueScope Steel's Port Kembla Steelworks is situated on a 760 hectare site approximately 80 km south of Sydney on the NSW south coast. Port Kembla Steelworks is a 5.1 mil t/y integrated steelworks operating in the top quartile of the world's lowest cost producers. Ten years ago BlueScope Steel was using 55 ML/d of water with a key performance indicator (KPI) of 5.5 kL/slab tonne. By the end of 2004, through a series of capital improvements and recycling schemes water consumption was reduced and water efficiency doubled to take 36 ML/d of water with a KPI of 2.6 kL/slab tonne. By comparison, most steel mills in the US use between 3 and 4 kL/t. By June 2005, with involvement in Sydney Water's Illawarra Waste Water Strategy, Australia's biggest sewage recycling scheme, demand was to be reduced by a further 20 ML/d. The BlueScope Steel Site water reduction program is a sign of the company's commitment to sustainable steel production, to the company bond to work within the community, and is a result of the partnership shared with Sydney Water.