Ranking pulp and paper mill fresh water use rate relative to similar North American mills

Recent water use and production data from over 650 mills in North America were verified and analyzed. A given mill's specific fresh water consumption, expressed as thousands of gallons of fresh water used per air-dried short ton of product (MGal/ADST), is a useful quantity in comparing fresh water use rates among pulp and paper mills. Categorizing such data based on general product and process type allows for the calculation of type-specific water use distributions. Cumulative water use distributions are especially informative because from them it is possible to derive cumulative distribution functions. These functions can be used to calculate a mill's percentile ranking with respect to fresh water use amongst similar mills. An example is given that shows how pulp and paper fresh water use comparisons can be used by regulatory agencies in formulating fair and informed regional water use management strategies.