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With more than a quarter million lakes and over 100,000 km of rivers, Ontario has billions of cubic metres of fresh water, but for the team at De Beers’ Sudbury Treatment Centre, minimizing water use is a top priority.

The facility processes prospecting samples collected by the De Beers Canada Exploration team in their search to discover the company’s next Canadian diamond mine. It’s staffed by a team of two full-time employees supported by eight part-time contract workers.

In what can be a water-intensive process, numerous modifications have been made since the plant originally opened nearly 20 years ago. In 2002, about 38% of the water used in the process was fresh water while 62% recycled. Now, less than 5% of the water consumed is fresh water and 95% is recycled water drawn from the 320 cubic meter outside settling pond. Any water released from the treatment centre must meet strict discharge criteria.

“Just because we have plenty of water available, we don’t want to be wasteful,” explained Dwayne Thomson, Treatment Plant Manager. “So, now, for every 1,000 litres of water used in the plant, only 50 litres is fresh water.”

Thomson said the drive to continually improve environmental processes at the centre is closely aligned with De Beers’ corporate philosophy of sustainable development and zero harm to people and the environment.