What businesses can do to improve water use

Some companies have policies on water, so another way to find out more is to read these. They can usually be found on company websites, under sustainability or corporate sections. Where it is not clear, ask for information about water stewardship.

• Reducing water use, for example by using dry machining. 
• Installing wastewater recovery and reuse, such as used by ‘dry factories’.
• Minimising use of chemicals and reducing water pollution.
• Implementing sustainable abstraction methods to ensure water usage is not damaging. 
• Encouraging stakeholder engagement, including for workers and local communities.

For example, in the automotive industry,  Ford Motor Company claims to have reduced its water use by 71% in the US and by 62% globally between 2000 and 2012, by using a combination of dry machining (using a lubrication mist of small amounts of oil and water sprayed directly onto the tips of cutting tools), cutting out a stage of painting, and wastewater recovery and reuse. 

Personal care products manufacturer L’Oréal has three dry factories in Burgos in Spain, Vorsino in Russia, and Settimo Torinese in Italy. L’Oréal defines a dry factory as a plant where the only water used is as a constituent of products (for example, water as an ingredient in shampoo) or during the product’s use (such as when water is added to coffee). In other words, 100% of the water used for industrial processes, for example tank cleaning, is purified and reused for other processes on-site, such as cooling or washing other types of equipment.

An example in the coffee sector comes from Olam international. The Aviv Coffee Plantation in Southern Tanzania, working with Water Witness International, has achieved the Alliance for Water Standard (AWS) for its water management in a challenging river catchment and has achieved benefits in four key areas:

• Good water governance.
• Sustainable water balance.
• Good water quality status.
• Healthy important water related areas.

Both the business and stakeholders including the local community have benefited from improved water security. The AWS standard verifies that a company is applying best practices to progress towards good water governance, a sustainable water balance, good water quality status, considering other water-related impacts, safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all.

In the textiles sector, UK retailer, Marks & Spencer claims to have used 100% sustainable cotton since March 2019. By partnering with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), the company aims to empower farmers to be more efficient with water, care for soil health and respect biodiversity, as well as improve social conditions for farmers.