Water Footprints

A water footprint determines the total water impact of a product, a service, an organization, or a supply chain, much in the same way that a carbon footprint measures greenhouse gas emissions.

We measure direct and indirect water consumption, including:

• Blue water: the amount of freshwater consumed that does not return to the watershed from which it came after use
• Green water: The volume of water used from global sources of rainwater used by plants (also known as evapo-transpiration)
• Grey water: the amount of water in the natural environment required to dilute pollutants to safe levels

Our water footprinting work follows the Water Footprint Assessment Manual produced by the Water Footprint Network, which is considered to be the global standard for businesses and governments in the quantification of water consumption.

We’ve worked with a number of organizations to measure water footprints at three levels:

1. Annual corporate operations including everything from toilet flushes to landscaping and the water cooler
2. Over the lifecycle of a specific product from raw material extraction and production, to manufacturing and distribution, to consumer use
3. Across an entire organization’s value chain, including upstream (pardon the pun) suppliers and downstream impacts of all products and services

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your organization measure and reduce your water footprint.