Just 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water, and two-thirds of that water is currently inaccessible, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Meat-processing facilities are major users of large amounts of water. Plants may use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day to process meat adequately.
Using this amount of water not only jeopardizes a scarce resource, it also affects the bottom line. Processors must pay to pipe the water in, heat it to the right temperature for use and then treat the wastewater before piping it out. While the goal is to ensure enough water is used to properly process the meat, are facilities using more than necessary?