Water management

In line with its strategy of positively impacting the environment, MRS consistently invests in the internal management of the water resources necessary for its operations. To this end, it keeps a constant eye on the new technologies available and promotes awareness of good practices among its staff for the conscious use of the resource.

Currently, the Company uses three different sources of water resources: surface or underground via grant, public supply and water trucks, the latter being focused on supplying equipment and maintenance activities for the railway network. In 2022, with the completion of a project started in the previous year, such as monitoring water abstraction, measuring the amount of liters collected and the collection time. The electronic control of information prevents errors and human failures and ensures reliability of the data that is reported to environmental agencies and controlled via EMS, in addition to ensuring system efficiency and continuous performance improvement.

To encourage awareness on the rational use of water, MRS uses, at its administrative headquarters in Juiz de Fora, a biodegradable product to reduce water consumption by up to 80% in flushing tanks, with a total investment of R$ 100,000 in 2022. Expansion to other cities is expected in 2023, with an investment of R$ 60,000.

The Company’s water use derives mainly from washing locomotives and maintenance of their components, in facilities along the railway network, in permanent way maintenance machines, in polymer sprinkler operations and for consumption by employees.

In 2022, the Company used a total of 95.1 thousand m³ of water, of which 26.5 thousand m³ came from groundwater collection, 4.5 thousand m³ from surface water, 52.1 thousand m³ from supply by concessionaires and 11,900 m³ from water trucks to run special permanent way machines, key equipment for railway maintenance.

Water Abstraction

(in mega liters)

• Surface water
• Groundwater
• Water trucks
• Third-party water (public supply)
• Total water abstraction

Effluents

All industrial and domestic effluents produced by MRS are collected, treated and disposed of properly and in compliance with current legislation. The Company has Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plants (IWWTPs) and Water and Oil Separation Boxes (CSAO – acronym in Portuguese) for the treatment of industrial effluents Filter tank systems perform the treatment of domestic effluents in places where there is no municipal wastewater collection network available. In 2022, a total of 5,261 m³ of industrial effluents were generated and treated by these ETEIs.