The demand of important quantities of water constitutes a main characteristic of Food Industry. Although the minimisation of water consumption remains a fundamental objective of many industries, the hygienic standars of the final product limits the use of a large quantity of recycled water. For this reason any change in the water flow system must take into consideration the hygiene of the product, as well as the equipment specifications and the product's quality.

It should be mentioned that the rational management of water can lead the industry to saving a percentage of 20-40% of water.

In order to reduce the water consumption, the uses of water must be monitored, making use of special equipment and techniques for quantifying the water consumption.

Afterwards, the results should be analyzed and targets for reducing the use of water must be placed, taking into consideration the available budget. During the implementation of the practice of water minimisation, there should exist continuous control and monitoring of the consequences that the minimisation has on the final product.

For minimising the water consumption, some simple good practices can be applied such as repairing dripping taps or checking regularly the water flow system, etc. Moreover, the installation of specific equipment, such as a completely automated system of local chemical cleaning CIP (Clean In You mold), would contribute to the reduction of water consumption.

Another effective practice for reducing the consumed water is its recycling. Thus, water of low quality can be reused for cleaning the less sensitive regions of the plant or hot water that results from cooling can be used as a mean of cleaning. Furthermore, the water of the de-icing the freezing tunnels can be used as cooling water. Finally, saving of water can be achieved using a suitable automatic control system of the whole process.