Anheuser-Busch is investing $20 million at its Van Nuys brewery to improve water efficiency in the filtering, brewing and packaging operations.

The funding by the St. Louis beverage company, the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev, in Belgium, is part of a larger $1.5 billion the company plans to spend on its U.S. operations by 2018. The company’s two main brands are Budweiser and Bud Light.

Van Nuys brewery General Manager Luis Cayo said the $20 million reflects efforts by the local operations to become water and energy efficiency leaders in the state.

Among the capabilities added are new meters to better measure water use and to further reduce the amount of water used during the beer packaging process, including the water used to rinse out cans before they are filled with beer.

“These new projects reflect Anheuser-Busch’s commitment to the community and understanding that we are responsible for the generations to come and that means continuing to think through how we can use water and energy more resourcefully,” Cayo said in a prepared statement.

Anheuser-Busch had previously invested $8 million in projects that reduced water use by 32 percent since 2009.

The company has also come out in support of the “Save the Drop” campaign to raise awareness about water usage and reduce it citywide by 20 percent by 2017.

Projects elsewhere in the country from the $1.5 billion financing include improvements to breweries in St. Louis, Fort Collins, Colo. and Columbus, Ohio; increasing production of aluminum bottles for Bud Light; and developing and integrating new products across multiple breweries.