Qualcomm Assessing & Managing Water Footprint

Qualcomm – We are painfully aware of the need to treat water as the valuable resource that it is as water sources across the world grow increasingly strained. We emphasize monitoring our water footprint and saving water, particularly in California, where our headquarters are located and where water shortage is a constant issue.

We achieve the largest water conservation advantages in our facilities by using recycled water instead of potable water for irrigation and cooling plant systems wherever possible. In fact, by increasing our recycled water system, we reduced our use on freshwater at our San Diego headquarters by 51% between 2016 and 2022. These enhancements serve to minimize our reliance on potable water and promote operational robustness.

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Water audits are conducted at our production sites to analyze use and share best practices across our locations. We also have an internal water pricing that makes the true cost of water consumption and water treatment visible and obvious. This fosters a strong incentive to create cost-effective and water-efficient methods.

In 2022, we launched many water conservation measures at our Singapore manufacturing site, resulting in more than 200,000 cumulative cubic meters (m3) of yearly water savings. For example, we conducted a usage analysis to identify potential for system integration and augmentation, which resulted in an upgrade of our deionized (DI) water delivery systems, increasing the quantity of recovered water by nearly 80,000 m3 per year. We also updated our water plant’s electrodeionization system.