General Dynamics

General Dynamics is an aerospace and defense company with manufacturing business segments that include Gulfstream business aircraft, combat vehicles, information technology, shipbuilding, and submarines. Water is important to its manufacturing business because aircraft finishing, shipbuilding, boiler systems, equipment cooling, and industrial cleaning processes all use freshwater and produce wastewater.

Gulfstream's chrome-free aircraft primer system, introduced in July 2014, saves an estimated 250,000 gallons of water annually. Gulfstream was the first original equipment manufacturer in the aviation industry to qualify the Sherwin-Williams chrome-free aircraft primer system. The new primer improves aircraft finishing quality, conserves freshwater, and saves approximately half a million dollars. Additionally, the new primer reduces the volume of water requiring treatment.

Boiler systems also reduce water consumption by using treated water and minimizing replenishment requirements. At two of the company's shipbuilding business locations, including Bath Iron Works and NASSCO, the company captures approximately 2.5 million gallons and 11 million gallons of water, respectively, for treatment and reuse annually, reducing the need to use drinking water and decreasing the volume of treated water released into the sanitary sewer.