Accurately tracking and reporting water use data overtime provides facilities and stakeholders with detailed insight into opportunities for improvement. If data is not accurate, this limits the ability to understand a facility’s water use footprint and identify the specific actions that will help reduce environmental impacts and drive efficiencies.
When establishing a water tracking and reporting program, the following principles should be applied:
- Completeness – The tracking and reporting program should include all relevant sources (as listed in the FEM). Sources should not be excluded from data tracking and reporting should be based on materiality (e.g., small quantity exceptions).
- Accuracy – Ensure that the data input into the water tracking program is accurate and is derived from credible sources (e.g., calibrated meters, established scientific measurement principles or engineering estimates, etc.)
- Consistency – Use consistent methodologies to track water data that allows for comparisons of water use over time. If there are any changes in the tracking methods, water sources, or other operations that impact water use data, this should be documented.
- Transparency – All data sources (e.g., water bills, meter readings, etc.), assumptions used (e.g., estimation techniques), and calculation methodologies should be disclosed in data inventories and be readily verifiable via documented records and supporting evidence.
Data Quality Management – Quality assurance activities (internal or external data quality checks) should be defined and performed on water data as well as the processes used to collect and track data to ensure reported data is accurate.