To begin, it’s important to understand the various types of water sources.
Blue Water Sources: Fresh surface and groundwater such as the water in freshwater lakes, rivers and aquifers
Water Source
Description
Surface Water
Water that is naturally occurring on the Earth’s surface including ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, ponds, lakes, rivers / streams, wetlands, bogs, etc. Surface water has a low concentration of dissolved solids, is of an acceptable quality, and/or requires minimal treatment to be used for domestic, municipal, or agricultural applications.
Groundwater
Water in soil beneath the soil surface, usually under conditions where the pressure in the water is greater than the atmospheric pressure, and the underground areas are substantially filled with the water. Non-renewable groundwater is generally located at deeper depths and cannot be replenished easily or is replenished over very long periods of time. They are sometimes referred to as “fossil” groundwater sources.
Municipal Blue Water
Water provided by a municipality or other public provider that is generated by blue water.
Municipal Water (Origin Unknown)
Water provided by a municipality or other public provider with unknown origins, such as blue or grey water.
Brackish Surface Water/Seawater
Water in which the concentration of salts is relatively high (over 10,000 mg/l). For comparison, seawater has a typical concentration of salts above 35,000 mg/l. Brackish water is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as seawater, and certain human activities can produce brackish water. It may result from mixing seawater with freshwater, such as in estuaries. Most terrestrial plant species cannot grow in brackish water.
Condensate from External Steam Source
Water that is generated from the condensate of steam sources that are not located at the facility.
Rainwater
Water in the form of precipitation, such as rain or snow, and harvested within the facility either from the roof or other surfaces and stored for use.
Grey Water Sources: Grey water is water that has been polluted by human activity such as industrial or domestic sources.
Water Source
Description
Municipal Grey Water
Water provided by a municipality or other public provider that is generated by grey water.
Recycled Water
Wastewater that has been treated using physical, chemical, and/or any additional treatment processes to meet a quality which allows the water to be used again in a process. For example, wastewater passed through a membrane filtration process and reintroduced to the industrial operation is considered recycled water. This does not include water cycled in cooling towers and non-contact heat exchange operations.
Reuse Water
Wastewater discharged from one process that is used directly in another process without treatment. This does not include water cycled in cooling towers and non-contact heat exchange operations.
Treated Wastewater from External Source
Wastewater that has been discharged and treated by another manufacturing facility using physical, chemical, and/or any additional treatment processes to meet a quality which allows the water to be reused in a process.
Untreated Wastewater from External Sources (treated internally)
Wastewater that has been discharged by another manufacturing facility and treated at facilities using physical, chemical, and/or any additional treatment processes to meet a quality which allows the water to be reused in a process.
KPIs
% Recycled Water Use
The sum of all recycled sources divided by the total use. Recycled Sources include:
Condensate from External Steam Source (watsourcecond)
Municipal Grey Water (watsourcemunicipalgrey)
Recycled Water (watsourcerecycle)
Reuse Water (watsourcereuse)
Treated Wastewater from External Source (watsourcewaste)
Untreated Wastewater from External Sources that are Treated Internally (watsourcewasteinternal)
Tip
This metric can be used to understand the share of recycled water that facilities are using and identify opportunities to increase the use of recycled water, reducing the use of water from withdrawn sources.
Take the total liters of water from all recycled sources and divide it by the total liters of water usage. Multiply that value by 100 to get the percentage.
% Withdrawal Water Use
The percentage of water used in facilities that is withdrawn from groundwater, municipal blue water and municipal water of unknown sources.
Tip
This metric can be used to understand the share of withdrawn water that facilities use and identify opportunities for improvement and conservation efforts.
Divide the total water source withdrawals by the sum of total water source values, but only if the water use isn’t zero. Multiply that value by 100 to get the percentage.
Blue Water Use
The total amount of water used from surface and groundwater sources such as fresh water lakes, rivers and aquifers.
Tip
This metric can be used to track and report the quantity of blue water consumption, inform blue water reduction targets or give insight into water.
The total amount of water used from grey water sources.
Tip
This metric can be used to track and report the quantity of grey water consumption, inform targets or track uptake of grey water in place of blue water.
Take the total liters of water withdrawal from a finished product assembler and divide it by the finished product assembler’s annual production volume quantity.
Kg Production Water Intensity
Liters of water used, normalized by kilograms of production volume. This is an outlier field.
Tip
This metric can be used to contextualize facility water use per kilogram of production.
Divide the sum total liters of water withdrawal from the list of facility types by the sum total of annual production volume quantity from the list of facility types:
This can be used as an initial evaluation of water use performance in facilities. Strategic decisions should include other metrics as the water score alone may not provide regional or site specific insight necessary to effectively reduce water use impacts.
Formula
average(total_water_score)
The average of all water section scores.
Total Water Use
The sum of all water use, in liters.
Tip
This absolute value can be used to evaluate increases or decreases in water use year over year or compare other water use types to the total.
Formula
sum(total_water_l)
The sum of total liters of water used.
Production Water Use
The sum of water used for production processes in liters.
Tip
This metric can be used to understand the amount of water used in production processes and identify opportunities for improved efficiency, reduction or conservation.
The sum of water used for domestic processes; such as in kitchens and restrooms; in liters.
Tip
This metric can be used to understand the amount of water used in domestic processes and identify opportunities for improved efficiency.
Formula
sum(domestic_total_water_l)
The sum of total liters of domestic water used.
Uncategorized Water Use
The sum of water use that was not categorized as production or domestic.
Tip
This metric can be used to identify which facilities do not track water use for production and domestic separately. If values are significant, it can identify opportunities to improve tracking methods.
Formula
sum(total_water_l) [only including assessments in which wattrackdomprodsep = "No"]
The sum of total liters of water used, only if the assessments answered “No” to RefID: wattrackdomprodsep.