Higg FEM 2025: Get to know the Water Use section webinar video (1hr 8m)

Alright. Hello, and welcome to today's Higg FEM session. My name is Leah Jaggars, and I am the senior education manager here at Worldly. And today, we are going to discuss the water use section and how to report your data. Before we get started, here are some logistics for the session. All attendees are muted for the duration of the webinar. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation. So as you have them, please go ahead and submit them into the Q & A box so that they are captured. Any questions that I cannot get to during the session will be answered in a follow-up email as long as they are submitted through the Q & A box. The session is being recorded, and I will share the recording with all registrants afterwards subtitled in multiple languages. We have simultaneous interpretation available in Chinese and Vietnamese today, so please select your preferred language through the interpretation icon. There are also machine generated closed captions in English and multiple languages available through the CC icon. Here's the agenda for today. First, we'll review a quick overview of the Higg FEM. Then we'll review key definitions in the water section. Then we'll go over the applicability questions for the section. Next, we'll review all of the questions in the section. And finally, time permitting, we'll review additional resources available to you and have time for questions and answers. So with that, let's review the Higg FEM and the water section. Hopefully, everyone had a chance to review the resources I sent in advance so we could review this very briefly. It's important to understand who Cascale and Worldly are and our relationship to the Higg index. In short, Cascale develops the underpinning methodology and the questions of the Higg FEM, And Worldly is the software platform that supports data collection and analysis for the assessment. The Higg FEM is an assessment or questionnaire that covers the following environmental impact areas, environmental management systems, energy use and greenhouse gas, water use, wastewater, air emissions, waste management, and chemical management. Cascale provides detailed guidance on each section question in the assessment where you can learn more. And I'm sharing a link oh, I might need to pull up my little window again. I'm sharing a link in the chat to the guidance where you can view that as well. And that is translated into multiple languages and is downloadable. I've also hosted sessions like these on other sections in case you missed them. All of the recordings are available at the link that I just shared, and they also have translated subtitles as well. The water use section in particular is divided into applicability questions and three levels of questions. Level one has seven questions, level two has thirteen, and level three has six questions. All questions may have additional sub questions associated with them. We will get more into what the levels contain and how you progress through them further on in the session. So now that we've learned more about what the FEM contains and some general components of the assessment, here is the overview of the FEM process. First, you will review the assessment questions and gather data from various sources. This is something that you can start now, especially if this is your first time completing the assessment. Also, during this time, you can identify any gaps in data or processes that you can mitigate and optionally arrange additional training. And I'm sharing a link to the Higg training bodies in the chat now. And step two is completing the self assessment in the Worldly platform. If you've previously completed an FEM, you can roll forward previous responses to questions that don't really change, like your site information. Also, if you use Facility Data Manager, you can also import twelve months of your quantitative data into your FEM to save time. Either way, you can review your data for accuracy and update anything that you import if you identify any errors. Once you have completed the data or the assessment, you will post it in the platform. The next step would be if you are getting your assessment verified to arrange verification with an approved verification body. And I'm sharing a link in the chat now to the list of Higg verified or or approved verification bodies. Then you can share your self assessment or your verified assessment with your business partners on the platform. Check with your business partners, for requirements and any deadlines that they may have. And finally, use Insights Hub to understand where your facility is doing well and where you can improve. Then during the year, you can use this information and analysis to plan changes and improvements and repeat the cycle. So now that we have reviewed what the FEM contains, let's discuss some key definitions that will help you understand the questions being asked in this section. So first, let's define the different water use types. Water can be used at a facility for either domestic or production purposes. Domestic would be purposes such as in a washroom, for sanitation, drinking water, food preparation, landscaping, non contact cooling, etcetera. Production use includes manufacturing processes or operations used to make goods such as dying or rinse water, steam generation, water used in mixtures that are applied to the product, cleaning equipment, components, or tools that contact the product during the manufacturing process, etcetera. And don't worry if you miss these lists. This is all well documented in the guidance as well. Alright. So now that we talked about water use types, let's define the types of water sources that may be used in your facility. First is blue water. There are a variety of blue water sources. Full definitions are available in the HowtoHigg guide for your reference. Surface water is water that naturally occurs on the Earth's surface, such as in lakes, rivers, wetlands, etcetera. Groundwater is beneath the soil surface, for example, in underground reservoirs, aquifers are accessed through wells. Municipal water, which can either be blue water or an unknown origin, is provided by a municipality or other public utility provider. Brackish surface water or seawater is water that is relatively high in salts compared to freshwater. Brackish water can occur naturally as in estuaries or as a result of certain human activity. Condensate from an external steam source is water that is generated from the condensation of steam sources not located at the facility. Please note that if you use condensate recovered from an internal steam source, this is not reportable in the FEM. And finally, rainwater is from precipitation such as rain or snow that is harvested in the facility from the roof or other surfaces and stored for use. Now, let's review gray water sources. Municipal gray water is provided by a municipality or other public provider and is water that is polluted by human activity in some way through industrial or domestic means. Recycled water is 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 or for domestic purposes. For example, wastewater that has gone through a membrane filtration process and used back in the industrial operation is considered recycled water. This does not include water cycled in operations such as cooling towers and noncontact heat exchange operations. Reuse water is wastewater discharged from one process that is then used directly in another process without treatment. This does not include water cycled in operations such as through cooling towers and non contact heat exchange operations. Treated wastewater is from an external source is wastewater that has been discharged and treated by an external source, for example, a different manufacturing facility, using physical, chemical, and or any additional treatment processes, again, to meet a quality which allows it to be used again. Untreated wastewater from an external source, which is treated internally, is similar to treated wastewater from an external source in that it is discharged from an external source. But in this case, it is treated on-site at your facility before it is used again in a process. And I do want to mention there's no requirement to have all of these sources be used. These are just the different options. So if you have a very standard setup with you know, you get municipal blue water, maybe you have some reuse within your facility. Don't feel like you have to know all of these by heart if that's not something that's relevant to your facility. Alright. Next is when we're talking about water use in the FEM, it has two ratings, high use and low use. These definitions will be a part of the applicability question logic in the assessment, so it's important to understand what is considered high use and low use. High water use is using equal to or greater than thirty five cubic meters per operating day. Low water use is using less than thirty five cubic meters per operating day. The assessment will progress you through the questions as needed according to this rating automatically. You do not need to calculate this yourself. In addition to water use, the FEM considers water risk. Water risk is assessed using two different tools, the World Resource Institute's or WRI, Aqueduct Risk Atlas, and the World Wildlife Foundation's or WWF water risk filter. We'll go over how to use these tools in just a moment, but first, let's review risk definitions. High risk in the context of the Higg FEM indicates that the WRI tool or the WWF tool have indicated high or extremely high risk. For the purposes of the FEM, low risk includes low, low medium, and medium to high risk in the WRI tool. I have also included the color mapping that you will see in the WWF tool here. Now that we reviewed key definitions, let's review applicability questions in the water section. This applicability the applicability questions in this section are particularly important because they determine which questions are required for your facility in this section. The first applicability question is how many operating days did your facility operate during the reporting year? So this actually uses the exact same method and, in fact, the same value as the site information and permits question, which is the reference ID SIP operating days. So it's the total number of days that production and related activities occurred at your facility. If there was less than fifty percent of a full working day or less than fifty percent of the total workers, you can count that as point five days. We recommend summarizing data in a spreadsheet if possible. And again, this should be the same value as you input into the site information and permit section. The next applicability question asks which tool you used to assess water risk for your facility? So this is often confused because the instructions tell you to use both tools. So you will use both tools to assess water risk, but you will use the higher rating risk rating of the two ratings for your FEM assessment. So the tool that you select in the assessment should represent the tool that gave you the highest rating. So the first tool is the WRI aqueduct water risk atlas. And I'm sharing a link to that in the chat now. And don't worry, I'll also be sending these in the follow-up email as well. So the water the World Resources Institute built the aqueduct tools to help companies, investors, governments, and communities better understand where and how water risks are emerging around the world. WRI's global risk mapping tool helps users understand where and how water risks and opportunities are emerging worldwide. To use the tool, go to the link provided here or in the guidance, then click launch tool. It may take a few moments to load the map data. Then click enter address in the bottom left side of the side panel. Enter your facility location and select from the suggestions. Your water risk will display in the bottom left. And what you're seeing on screen now is searching for the location, selecting it, and then on the left, you can see the value for the risk that I gave. So, hopefully, that helps if it's your first time using that tool. So the next tool is the World Wildlife found funds water risk filters. I'm tripping over my words today. The water risk filter physical risk layer represents both natural and human induced conditions of river basins. It comprises four risk categories covering different aspects of physical risks, water availability, drought, flooding, water quality, and ecosystem services status. Physical risks account for conditions where water is too little, too much, unfit for use, and or the surrounding ecosystems are degraded, in turn, negatively impacting water ecosystem services. To use the water risk filter, navigate to the link provided, and I'm sharing that in the chat now, and this is also in the guidance. Enter your facility address or location in the search location at the top of the map and view the risk rating on the left hand side. The WWF risk assessment is color coded from low to very high risk. And as you're seeing on screen as well, you can just search for the location, search for your address, and you can zoom in to see. Also, one thing that I find helpful is if you're not quite sure what color it's landing on, sometimes zooming out a little bit just to see some of the other color options and how they compare is just helpful for understanding that. The next applicability question is, is your facility location rated as high or very high for overall water risk using this tool? So for this question, let's walk through a couple examples. This first facility is located in Chengdu, China. I searched for the location in both tools. The WRI tool says the facility has a high risk rating, and the WWF rating is a yellow orange, which is a medium to medium high risk rating. In the FEM, you will use the higher rating. So for the tool question, we will select the WRI tool. And for the rating question, I will answer yes to being rated as high or very high for overall water use risk. Here is a different example. This facility is located in Kent, Washington in the United States. I searched for this location in both tools. The WRI tool says that this location has a low medium risk rating, and the WWF rating is yellow, which is low medium risk as well. In the FEM, you will use the higher rating. So for the tool question, we will select either tool as they rated the facility the same risk level. And for the rating question, I will answer no to being rated as high or very high for overall water risk use or water use risk. Sorry. The next applicability question is, is your facility able to separately report water consumption by each facility type? Please note, this applicability question will only apply to facilities that have selected finished product assembler and finished product processing as the only two facility types in the site info section of the FEM. Next, let's review water risk versus water use and how that impacts the questions and levels that you are required to answer and what is included in the section score. If you are either located in a high water risk area or have high water use or have both high use and high risk, you are required to complete all the sections in the water section levels one, two, and three. Your score for the water section then will be based on all levels. If you are in a low water risk area and have low water use, you are only required to complete level one questions, and your score will be based on level one only. Check with your brand partners if they require any additional questions to be answered in level two or three for tracking purposes, but you are not required to answer level two or three generally. So again, if you have low risk and low use, it's just level one. If you have high risk or high use or both, you are required to answer all levels. Alright. With that, let us get into level one questions. So the first question is the starting point for the entire water use section. It asks a simple but important question. Where does your facility's water come from? Before thinking about quantities or efficiency, the assessment first needs to get a complete picture of all water sources used at the site. This includes every source, even if it is used only sometimes or in small amounts. In the FEM, water sources are grouped into blue water and gray water. Blue water includes the sources that we discussed, such as municipal water, surface water, and groundwater. And gray water includes water that is reused and recycled or recycled, for example, treated wastewater from an external source that is reused on-site. Wastewater that leaves your facility is not counted here. One of the most common issues with this question is missing a source. Rainwater collecting systems, recycled process water, or condensate from steam systems are often overlooked. These sources may seem minor, but they still need to be selected if they are used. A practical way to answer this question is to walk through the facility and trace where water enters the site. You can also review water bills, permits, and contracts with utilities or suppliers. These documents often reveal water sources that are easy to forget. The key message for this question is completeness. It is better to identify all water sources now and improve tracking over time than to leave a source out. A complete list creates a strong foundation for all of the questions that follow. The next question checks whether your facility has started tracking water use in any form. Tracking means the quest that the water use is recorded using some type of data. This could be water bills from a utility, meter readings taken on-site, or another documented method. At this stage, the assessment does not require full or perfect tracking. It simply asks whether tracking exists at all. You should answer yes if your facility tracks water use from at least one water source. And again, this is for question two. Does your facility track any of its water use? If you measure for example, if you receive municipal water and keep monthly water bills, that counts as tracking. If you measure groundwater extraction with a meter, that also counts. You should answer no only if no water use data is tracked from any source. If water is used but nothing is recorded, then the correct answer is no. A common issue with this question is answering yes without having records available. During verification, facilities are often asked to show examples of the data that they track. If you select yes, make sure that you can provide at least one clear record such as a bill or meter log. If your facility is not yet tracking water use, this is a good place to start. Collecting water bills or recording meter readings on a regular basis creates the foundation for better water management in future years. And then level three builds upon that particular question and asks, does your facility track water use from all sources? So you, again, should only answer yes to this third question if you do track all of your water sources. If you are missing a source, there is a partial yes answer, so you can select that. But generally speaking, you will want to say no if you're not tracking all of your sources. The next question is, does tracked water include rejected water from pretreatment? So this question applies only to facilities that have incoming water pretreatment on-site. Pretreatment refers to systems such as filtration or reverse osmosis that treat incoming water before it is used. These systems often produce rejected water. Rejected water is the portion of the treated water that is discarded because it does not meet quality requirements. The intent of this question is to make sure that the total water use is not under reported. If rejected water is not included, reported water use can appear lower than it actually is. So you should answer yes if rejected water from pretreatment is measured and included in your water use totals, and you should answer no if rejected water is excluded or not measured. A common issue with this question is misunderstanding what counts as rejected water. For example, reject water from large pretreatment systems should be included, while small drinking water dispensers with filters are not included. If your facility has pretreatment but does not yet track rejected water, this is a good opportunity to start. Even simple f's estimates, if clearly documented, are better than excluding this water entirely. Alright. The next question focuses on understanding how water is used within your facility. Domestic water is water used to support people in buildings. This includes uses such as restrooms, kitchens, and cleaning of offices. Production water is used directly in manufacturing processes. Separating domestic and production water helps facilities understand where the largest opportunities come from for improvement. It also improves the accuracy of water performance data over time. You should answer yes if your facility tracks domestic and production water use separately using meters or documented calculation methods. You should answer no if all water use is tracked as a single total. A common challenge with this question is assuming separation without evidence. For example, applying a fixed percentage without documentation can raise questions during verification. If your facility cannot yet separate domestic and production water use, start with estimates based on process knowledge. Clearly document the assumptions you use. Over time, sub metering or improved data collection can help strengthen this area. Alright. With that, let us do a quick knowledge check, and I'm launching that, and you should see it on your screen. So the question is, a facility orders drinking water for their staff. Is this considered domestic or production water use? And your options are domestic, production, or neither. And I'll give folks a moment to answer. Did I partake in my own drinking water? Alright. We've got a good number of answers, I'm going to go ahead and end the poll just for the sake of time. Alright. Let me go ahead and share the results. So if you answered domestic, you were correct. So it is domestic water use. This is something that can be commonly overlooked, especially if you order in drinking water and jugs or bottles or something like that. That is still considered domestic water. So yeah. So that is domestic water use. You can track that easily with your invoices from wherever you're ordering the water from, you know, if you have a service or if you, you know, receive it from the municipality. There was a question recently about what water source type you would select for that, and that just depends. Generally speaking, it would probably be municipal water. And if you know the source, you could say blue water. And if you aren't really sure and it's an unknown origin, then you would select unknown origin. But generally speaking, drinking water would fall into that one of those two options. Production water would only count if it were being used in the production process, and then neither is incorrect because it is considered domestic. So, hopefully, that helps. All of that is also documented, like, the definitions of that in the guidance as well. Alright. Let us go ahead to the next question. So the next question is level one question six. Are there legally mandated groundwater abstraction restrictions? So this question checks whether your facility is aware of legal requirements related to groundwater use. It applies only if your facility uses groundwater. So if groundwater is not used for your site, this question may not apply to you. In some countries or regions, groundwater extraction is restricted by law. This may include limits on how much water can be extracted, requirements for permits, or rules on when groundwater can be used. You should answer based on the regulations that apply to your facility's location. This information usually comes from national or local authorities, water agencies, or permit documentation. A common issue with this question is answering without confirmation. During verification, facilities may be asked how they know whether restrictions exist. If you are unsure, take time to check local regulations or contact the authority responsible for water management in your region. Keeping a copy of permits or official guidance helps support your answer and reduces follow-up questions later. Alright. And level one question seven is, does your process have or does your facility have a process to inspect and monitor its water supply network for leaks? This question is about preventing water loss before it becomes a big problem. A water supply network includes all of the equipment that brings water into the facility and distributes it across the site. This can include storage tanks, pipes, pumps, valves, and connections to equipment. The question asks whether your facility has a defined process to inspect the network and look for leaks. This does not need to be super complex. What matters is that the inspections are planned, documented, and repeated over time. You should answer yes if inspections are carried out on a regular basis and there's some form of record. This could be a checklist, a maintenance log, or service records from internal or third party contractors. A common challenge with this question is relying only on informal checks. For example, noticing leaks only when something goes wrong is usually not enough to demonstrate a process. If your facility does not yet have a formal approach, start simple. Assign responsibility, decide how often inspections will occur, and record what is checked. Even a basic routine can significantly reduce water loss and support stronger answers in future years. Alright. So that was all of the questions in level one. Again, level one is about awareness and transparency, not necessarily perfection. So some key takeaways for this level is know where your water comes from. Track it even if it's a basic record that still counts, your invoices, meter readings, etcetera. Be clear about what you are measuring versus estimated. For some of these questions, this is it is acceptable to use estimation methods. I recommend reviewing all of your question guidance to see what the recommendations are for that type of estimation, but just make sure that it's well documented if you are using that method. And then finally, document processes even if they are simple. Alright. So let's move on to level two. And, again, if you have high water risk, high water use, or both, you are required to answer level two and three. So the first question in level two is, has your facility set baselines for any of its water use? This question is about creating a reference point for improvement. A baseline is a fixed point in time that you use to compare future performance. In the water use section, a baseline usually comes from a specific year of water use data that you consider reliable. For example, if you've completed an FEM in the past, that's usually a good place to start, or if you do have a full year worth of reliable data. You should answer yes if your facility has selected a baseline year for at least one water source. This does not need to apply to all sources yet. Setting a baseline for one major source is enough to move forward at this level. A common misunderstanding is thinking that a baseline must already show improvement. That is not the case here. A baseline is simply a starting point. Its purpose is to help you measure change over time. When choosing a baseline year, it is important to use a year with complete and credible data. The baseline year should be clearly documented, and the same baseline should be used consistently in future reporting. If your facility has not yet set a baseline, this is a good moment to pause and review your historical data. Select a recent year where tracking was stable and document why that year was chosen. This step makes all future improvement questions much easier to answer. So the next question builds on the idea of baselines and looks at how detailed your data is. Separating baselines for domestic and production water helps facilities understand which activities drive water use. It also makes future improvement efforts more targeted and effective. You should answer yes if your facility can separate baselines for domestic and production water use based on tracked data or documented calculations. You should answer no if only a combined baseline is available. It is important to note that this question applies only to facilities that use water in production and already track domestic and production water separately. If those conditions are not met, this question may not apply. A common challenge with this question is overestimating data quality. For example, if domestic and production use are split using rough assumptions without documentation, this does not usually support a yes answer. If your facility is not ready to separate baselines yet, that is okay. Using a combined baseline is acceptable at this stage. The key is to be transparent and to use this question as a signal for where data systems can improve over time. Alright. So this is the next kind of set of questions that are all very related. So these questions move from the idea of baselines into the details of how baselines are applied to different water sources. The assessment will ask you to complete one or more tables depending on how your facility uses and tracks water. The goal here is to clearly show which water sources have baselines and how those baselines are defined. For each applicable water source, you'll be asked whether a baseline has been set. You'll also be asked whether the baseline is absolute or normalized. An absolute baseline looks at total water use over a period of time, whereas a normalized baseline adjusts water use based on an activity, such as production output. If your facility has selected multiple facility types in the FEM, you may also see separate tables for domestic water use and production water use. This helps ensure that baselines align with how water is actually used across the site. A common issue with these questions is inconsistency. For example, a water source may be selected in the tracking questions but not used in the baseline tables. Before completing these tables, it is helpful to review your list of water sources and confirm that baselines align with your tracking data. If your facility is early in this process, it is acceptable to start with baselines for major water sources only. What matters most is that the baselines you report are clear, documented, and used consistently in future years. All right. The next question looks at whether your facility understands how water moves through the site. A water balance is a way to compare how much water enters the facility, how it is used in different processes, and how it leaves the facility, for example, through discharge to a wastewater treatment plant. The goal is to check that these numbers make sense when viewed together. This analysis does not need to be complex. For many facilities, a simple diagram or table is enough. What matters is that major water inputs, major uses, and major outputs are identified and fully aligned. You should answer yes if your facility has carried out some form of analysis that links water intake, water use by process, and water discharge. This can be a mass balance, a flow diagram with quantities, or a documented calculation. A common challenge with this question is focusing only on intake data. During verification, questions will often come up if water use or discharge is not considered. Missing large flows can make the analysis unreliable. If your facility has not done this yet, start simple. Use your total incoming water, estimate how water use is you or how water is used in key processes, and compare that to the wastewater discharge data. Even a basic water balance can reveal data gaps and help improve overall data quality. Alright. The next question is, has your facility set targets to reduce blue water use? This question moves from understanding water use to setting a clear direction for improvement. Again, blue water refers to fresh water sources such as municipal water, surface water, and groundwater. And this question asks whether your facility has set targets to reduce the use of these sources over time. A target should be intentional and forward looking. It is usually linked to a baseline year and includes a defined goal, such as a percentage reduction or a specific volume reduction over a set time period. You should answer yes here if your facility has formally defined at least one target to reduce blue water use from a specific source. The target does not need to cover all sources, but it should be clear and documented. A common issue with this question is setting a target without a clear baseline. Without a baseline, it becomes difficult to measure progress or demonstrate improvement later. If your facility has not set targets yet, this is a good moment to start small. Focus on the largest or most controllable water source first. Even a modest, well defined target helps turn data into action. The next question is very similar, but it's around gray water use. So this question focuses on how your facility uses water that is reused or recycled. Again, gray water in the FEM refers to water that comes from sources such as recycled water, reused process water, or treated wastewater from an external source that is reused on-site. This does not include wastewater that leaves your facility. So similar to the last question, it's asking whether your facility has set targets, but instead of reducing the amount of waste of gray water that you use to increase the amount of waste gray water use. I can't talk today. So blue water, you want to go down how much you use gray water. Ideally, you're reusing more water, and therefore, that becomes a higher percentage of your total water use. So increasing gray water use can help reduce dependence on freshwater sources. You should answer yes if you have a documented target to increase the use of gray water from at least one source. This could involve increasing the volume reused, expanding reuse to new processes, or improving efficiency. A common challenge with this question is confusion between gray water and waste wastewater. If water is discharged and not reused, it should not be counted here. Alright. And then finally, the question sixteen is, has your facility set targets to improve rainwater harvesting capacity? So this question looks at rather rainwater is part of your water management strategy. Rainwater harvesting requires refers to collecting and storing rainwater for use at the facility. This could include uses such as cleaning, cooling, or other non potable applications depending on local conditions. The question asks whether your facility has set targets to improve or expand its rainwater harvesting capacity. This could mean increasing storage capacity, expanding collection areas, or using rainwater in additional processes. You should answer yes if your facility has a defined target relating related to rainwater harvesting and can explain how capacity will improve be improved over time. The common issue with this question is selecting yes without having any collection infrastructure in place. Targets should be realistic and based on what is technically feasible at the site. If your facility has not explored rainwater harvesting yet, start with a basic feasibility check. Consider roof area, rainfall patterns, and potential uses. Even if rainwater is not practical for your site, documenting that assessment can support future decision making. The next question focuses on turning targets into actions. An implementation plan describes how your facility plans to improve water use over time. It usually includes specific actions, a timeline, and assigned responsibility. The plan should be forward looking and relevant to the reporting year and beyond. Excuse me. You should answer yes if the facility has a documented plan that explains what actions will be taken to improve water use. The plan does not need to be complex, but it should be clear and practical. A common challenge with this question is having ideas but no formal plan yet. During verification, facilities are often asked to show how improvement actions are organized and tracked. If your facilities does not yet have a plan, start small. Focus on one or two priority actions, such as fixing leaks, improving process efficiency, or increasing reuse. Write down what will be done, when it will be done, and who is responsible. This simple structure is enough to support a strong answer and future progress. The next question asks whether your facility has already achieved measurable reductions in blue water use. Again, we already know blue water includes fresh water sources, and so this comparison must be made against the baseline that you previously defined. You should answer yes if your facility can show that the blue water use from at least one source has decreased compared to the baseline year. The reduction should be the result of specific actions such as process changes, equipment upgrades, or reuse projects. A common issue with this question is reporting reductions that are caused only by lower production levels. Reductions linked to reduced output are not considered sustainable improvements and should not be reported here. If your facility has not yet achieved reductions, that is okay. This question helps distinguish between planning and performance. Focus first on implementing the actions in your improvement plan. Once those actions are in place, further reductions can be demonstrated more clearly. The next question is, has your facility improved gray water use compared with your baseline? So very similar to the last question, but again, similar to the setting of baselines and setting of targets related to gray water, it's referring to, did you increase the amount of gray water that you used? So, again, that's reused or recycled water. You should answer yes to this question if you can demonstrate that gray water use has increased compared to your baseline year. Again, you should have measurable and linked to specific actions, such as expanding reuse systems or adding new applications for used water. A common challenge with this question is, again, confusing gray water improvements with wastewater treatment improvements. If the water is treated and then discharged, it is not counted here unless it is also reused. If your facility has not increased graywater use, this question can help identify opportunities. Start reviewing where water is currently reused and where reuse can be expanded in the future. Even small increases when clearly documented can support progress over time. Alright. The next question is, does your facility have a plan to reduce absolute blue water use? So this question looks at long term reduction of total freshwater use at the facility. Absolute blue water use refers to the total volume of freshwater used over a period of time, such as a year. This question asks whether you have a plan to reduce the total amount, not just improve efficiency in one area. You should answer yes if your facility has a documented plan that explains how absolute blue water use will be reduced over time. Again, specific actions include a timeline, and it should have responsibilities. It should focus on changes that reduce water use sustainably. A common issue with this question is confusing efficiency improvements with absolute reductions. For example, reducing water use because production volume decreases, again, does not count as a sustainable reduction. If your facility does not yet have a plan for absolute reduction, start by reviewing your largest water use sources and identifying where real reductions are possible. This may include reuse projects, process changes, or equipment upgrades. A simple action focused plan is enough to support a strong answer and guide future improvements. Alright. So that was everything in level two. So some key takeaways for level two, use your baselines. If you've been tracking your water in the past, if you have a reliable dataset that you can pull from, even if it's not an FEM, that's totally fine. That can be your baseline year as long as it is reliable and accurate. Also understand how your water moves through your facility. Where are your inputs? Where are your outputs? Where are their potential for leaks? Where are is it stored, etcetera? Where is it used in production processes? Next is set realistic targets linked to data. So, you know, if you have your baselines, that's where you should be starting from and then go from there. Don't set arbitrary targets just because they sound good. You want to actually be able to show improvement and show that you can achieve those things. And finally, turn plans into actions. So, you know, have those plans, but if you have them have specifics, you have people assigned, and you have timelines, that is a really great place to start. So, hopefully, all of that is super helpful, and let us go into level three. And luckily for us, level three is shorter than the other levels. So the first question in level three focuses on reducing reliance on groundwater, which is often a sensitive and limited resource. So the question is, have you reduced groundwater use for production by more than ninety percent? It applies only to groundwater used production processes. Groundwater used for domestic purposes, such as restrooms or kitchens, is not included here. You should answer yes if groundwater used in production makes up less than ten percent of total production water use during the reporting year. This usually means that groundwater has been largely replaced with alternative sources such as municipal water, recycled water, or reused process water. A common challenge with this question is mixing domestic and production groundwater use. Make sure the data clearly shows how much groundwater is used specifically for production. If your facility still relies on groundwater, this question helps highlight a long term opportunity. Improving efficiency, increasing reuse, or switching to alternative sources can all support progress towards reducing groundwater dependence over time. The next question asks whether your facility can show a real reduction in total freshwater use. Again, absolute blue water use means the total volume of freshwater used by the facility over the year has gone down. Again, this includes all blue water sources except for rainwater. The comparison must be made against a clearly defined baseline year. You should answer yes if you can demonstrate that total blue water use is lower than the baseline and this reduction is linked to specific actions taken by the facility. Examples include process improvements, equipment upgrades, or increased reuse that reduces the need for fresh water. A common issue with this question is reporting reductions that are caused mainly, again, by lower production levels or reduced operating time. These changes do not represent sustainable improvements and should not be used to support a yes answer. If your facility is not yet able to demonstrate absolute reduction, that's okay. The question represents a higher level of performance. Focus on implementing strong improvement actions and improving data quality so that further reductions can be clearly measured and demonstrated. All right. The next question looks at transparency beyond the facility level. It asks whether the facility's water risk and water use information is reported or disclosed through a recognized external reporting framework. Common ex examples include GRI or CDP. Internal reporting is not enough for this question. You should answer yes if water related information for your facility is included in an external disclosure that is publicly available or formally submitted. The disclosure should cover water risk, water use, or both, and it should be current and for the reporting period. A common challenge with this question is assuming that corporate level reporting automatically applies. During verification, facilities are often asked to show how their site level data is included in the external report. If your facility is not yet part of an external disclosure, this question can help signal a future pathway. Start by aligning internal water use data with common reporting frameworks. This makes it easier to participate in external disclosure when the opportunity arises. Alright. This question goes beyond reducing impact at the facility itself and looks at contribution to the surrounding water environment. So have you reduced groundwater use? Oh, I think this is the wrong sorry. This is the wrong slide for this, but I have a different sorry. This is just the wrong slide. I'll correct it before I send it out to you. So the question is not that question. So it's asking if you have a positive impact. So positive impact means actions that benefit the local water catchment or community, not just the facility's own operations. Examples can include supporting watershed restoration projects, improving shared water infrastructure, or participating in community water programs. You should answer yes if your facility can demonstrate that it has taken actions that create measurable benefits outside the facility boundary. These actions should be intentional, documented, and linked to local water challenges. A common issue with this question is reporting internal efficiency projects only. While those actions are important, they do not demonstrate positive impact on the wider water system. If your facility is new to this area, start by understanding local water challenges and stakeholders. Partnering with local authorities, NGOs, or community groups can help identify meaningful actions that support shared water resources over time. Alright. Now we're back on the right track. Sorry about that problem with the slide. So the next question is, does your facility use leading technologies to reduce water use? This question focuses on advanced approaches to water efficiency. Leading technologies are practices or systems that go beyond standard efficiency measures and result in significant water reductions. These technologies are usually specific to the type of production carried out at the facility. You should answer yes if your facility has implemented technologies that are proven to significantly reduce water use in manufacturing processes and are currently in operations in operation. And you should also be able to measure or clearly demonstrate these technologies. A common challenge with this question is reporting planned or partially installed technologies. To support a yes answer, it should be installed, operational, and delivering results during the reporting period. If you are not yet doing this, this question can serve as a longer term goal. Start by reviewing best available technologies for your processes and assess which technologies could deliver meaningful water reductions in the future. And the final question in level three is represents the highest level of ambition in the water use section. A science based target on water aligns a facility's water use goals with scientifically defined limits and local water availability. These targets are designed to ensure that water use stays within the levels that are sustainable for the local basin. You should answer yes only if your facility has formally set a science based target on water and that target has been developed using a recognized methodology. The target should be documented and linked to a clear implementation pathway. A common issue with this question is confusing internal reduction targets with science based targets. Not all reduction targets qualify as science based. Science based targets require specific methods and external validation or alignment. If your facility has not yet set a science based target on water, this question highlights a future pathway rather than an expectation for most facilities today. Building strong data systems, baselines, and reduction plans now is the foundation for setting science based targets later. Alright. So some key takeaways for this level is focus on absolute water reduction, especially for freshwater. Reduce the reliance on sensitive water sources such as groundwater, increase that, gray water or reuse water wherever possible. Look beyond your facility boundaries, so engage with your wider community, share things in different disclosures, and then finally, align water action with science and your local context. Again, level three represents leadership pathways, not minimum expectations. Alright. And this is just kind of a quick bonus slide. If you are really just getting started and you don't know where to start, it's kind of a four year plan. You don't have to follow this in four years. You could easily do these things in a much shorter period of time. Really up to you, but this will be included in the follow-up email. But year one is just get everything tracked, start tracking everything, document all your methodology, get all of that really squared away so that you have a good baseline year. Then year two is set your baseline so you can use your previous year to then set yourself up for success so that you know where you started from, understand where it's used, and start to investigate your risks and opportunities, and then set targets. And level three, start to do improvements. You've started to identify some problems. So now you can increase your reuse, reduce your overall use. And then year four is reduce absolute use, start to engage with your local community, etcetera. Alright. In the interest of time, I'm going to pop out of here. I think a lot of folks have probably seen where the resources are located, so let me go ahead and take a look at these questions. The next question is good good morning. I have a question. If the apparel factory has an iron process, the water used for this process should be considered as water used for production. Thanks in advance. Yes. So if you're using water to fill the, you know, the irons or the boilers, whatever you're using for ironing, that would be considered production water use. There's often a follow-up question to wastewater. Generally speaking, for ironing, it gets evaporated, so you don't really have wastewater in that context. But, yes, that would be generally considered as production water use. The next question is to confirm level two oh, and let me go to the platform if we need to look at anything. So level two question ten for the baseline. The baseline will be a new baseline. Right? As previous, your question is the baseline for total volume of water consumption. But this time, the baseline is for separated volume domestic versus production. That means the baseline year shall be twenty twenty four. It depends. So there's it's kind of broken up into a few different baseline questions. So some of the questions also don't display if you previously said, I do not separate my water use by domestic and production. So there's that first question, do you separate? If you say, yep. I separate, then it will ask questions relating to that separation. If you say, nope. I don't separate, then it won't ask those questions. So that depends on how you're answering those questions. But if I look for baseline just so we can so have you set baselines for any water use? Are you able to set a baseline separately for water use domestic versus production? And then there's, like, a series of questions. If you do separate them, it'll ask which water sources do you set them on, etcetera, for both domestic and production, or it'll ask it altogether. So there's a few different baseline related questions. If you expand all of this as well, it will give you more information here. And I'll include this in the follow-up email, but I'm also just sending the direct link to this, like, the water section on HowtoHigg in the chat as well. But if you do have depending on what you previously answered, if you said, yes, I have a baseline last year for my overall water use. I don't separate, but it is overall. Then you can continue to use that previous baseline year. So whenever you have credible data, as long as it's the same like, you're comparing like to like, you're not changing the type of water that you're talking about. Hopefully, that helps. Okay. There's a question. If I have a rainwater collection system. Is it blue water from rain, or is it gray water from recycled system? So generally speaking, the first section, you'll answer which sources you get it from. So rainwater is considered a blue water source. If you are able to track how much you're collecting, that's something that you can use in your tracking. If that rainwater is then collected and then reused and, like let's say, like, you use it in a a process and then it keeps getting reused, that could also bury gray water reuse. But that first initial collection for example, let's say you have landscaping on your facility, and so you're gathering green rainwater to then water, you know, the the landscaping later, you would consider the collection to be the blue water, and you could track that amount. And then the output wouldn't be gray water because it was just you're just using that rainwater to do a process. But if you then took that rainwater and then used it to, I don't know, dye fabric, and then that got treated again and then was reused again to dye and, like, over and over and over again, then that would be gray water that was, like, recycled. So, hopefully, that helps. But that initial rainwater is considered a blue water source. Alright. The next question is, I would like to ask if the facility purchased bottles of drinking water or a water tank for the employees, should that be reported under domestic water? Yeah. So domestic water, if it's drinking water, whether you're ordering, like, big jugs or tanks, or if you have municipal water coming in that people are drinking from the sink and the canteen, all of that would fall under that domestic water. If you can track it, you know, the first step is just identifying the sources, and then the next question is, do you track them? So just remember that as you're answering those questions, select all your sources, but you're not necessarily required to track everything from the get go, especially if you're just getting started. But if you do have, you know, those orders and invoices and things, then that's a a good way to to track it. Alright. And let's see. Final couple questions, and then we'll be done. I have two question. How to set baseline data, and what are those criteria needed to be considered, and how to set realistic targets and consideration? That is really great and probably something I can't quite get into as far as, like, the target setting goes, but I do recommend reviewing this information for baselines. It has kind of information about what is absolute, what is normalized, etcetera. There's also we also have an e-learning course. It's not specifically related to let me just pull it up. To FEM, but it's related to FDM. But that is a place where you can track targets. Got a little lost in there. So I'll also share this, but there's information in here on how you can track targets. And then we have an e-learning course on setting targets and baselines. So I recommend yeah. This targets and baselines course. I recommend checking this out. I'll just share this in the chat and also in the follow-up. That goes deeper into how to go about doing that for really anything, not specifically just water, but how do you figure out your baseline? Generally speaking, a baseline is as simple as a year of credible data. If you can go, yep. I have a year's worth of invoices for all of my municipal water, that's at least one source that you can set a baseline on. And then from there, you can figure out, okay. Maybe I don't know how much of that is used in production. My first step would then be to separate out the domestic and production. If you already do that, then it would be, okay. Which processes can we actually affect and change how much water is used, so on and so forth. So there's a lot that goes into that. I actually am planning to do a session specifically on targets and base lines in the next couple months. I'm still kind of putting it together. But if you're interested in that, that's super helpful for me to know, and I can get into that in a little bit more detail. But definitely check out that course that goes into that in more detail. And then there's also within this guidance, like, you go to the targets questions, There's a lot of information in here as well and some technical guidance and places to go. So I recommend reading that over as well. But I'll include that targets and baselines e-learning course, Mohammed, in the follow-up email as well. If you missed the link, you can access that as well. But, yeah, hopefully, that helps, and hopefully, that resource helps. Alright. And then the final question was just, can I share the PowerPoint? Absolutely. And all the links. So, that is all the questions today. Thank you all so so much for your time and attention, and thank you for, to my interpreters for all their wonderful help today. I will be sending the, recording as well as the follow-up email with a bunch of different resources that we talked through so that you have access to that. If you ever miss these emails, please reach out to me, and I want to make sure that you're getting those resources. Oh, and I see I see a follow-up email that came through. I'm going to answer that in the follow-up email in the Q & A report. So whoever submitted that one, just in the interest of time, I'll I'll include that in the Q & A report. So be on the lookout for that, And thank you all so much, and I hope you have a wonderful day. Alright. Thank you for the emojis, and thank you so much to my interpreters. Alright. Have a good one. Bye.