WATER INSIGHTS BLOG
An advanced water management program begins with research. Water usage must be measured “down to the last drop.” Enterprise-wide and facility-based water consumption must be accurately gauged using reports, meters and software analysis.
Total Water Management Approach
the Environmental Protection Agency's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Initiative
The American Water Works Association Research Foundation defined, in 1996, total water management as “the exercise of stewardship of water resources for the greatest good of society and the environment.”
Since that interpretation further refinements have been made with the goal of sustainability, including the Environmental Protection Agency's Sustainable Water Infrastructure initiative which focuses on better management, realistic full cost pricing, efficient practices and a global overview of the entire water regime within its environment.
Water conservation is a key element of corporate sustainability and should be addressed by any organization as we go forward. Total water management from a corporate perspective should mirror those efforts being made by government and by regional utility companies. It is important to focus on leak reduction, operational efficiency, direct conservation, and water optimization.
Water Management & Conservation
This should, from a holistic point of view, receive particular focus as the effects of global climate change caused by conspicuous consumption threaten our overall water levels, at the same time as inefficient use of water within the commercial enterprise can affect the company's sustainability index.
Indeed, as the dual implications of scarcity and overuse come into focus, many are referring to water as “the new carbon,” referring to the current major initiatives in place to reduce the impact of carbon emissions and to bring organizations to account for every element of their carbon footprint within a broader sphere of corporate sustainability. We may soon add the phrase “water footprint” to our dictionaries.
The “Water Footprint Network” is an international nonprofit organization, funded by a consortium of interested parties from academics to corporate heads. The network seeks to educate corporations and governments alike and help them to understand and ultimately measure their water footprints. A typical footprint must include the amount of “embedded” water through the life cycle.
Sustainable Water Management is Gaining in Strategic Importance
Total water management will require the organization to analyze situations throughout its supply chain, including the water required to affect the ingredient manufacturing process, produce any packaging and cool the transportation methods. This must be added to the water used not only in the company's direct processes but also within its on-site restaurants, restrooms, during cleaning, etc.
Sustainable water management must be viewed as part of an organization's new approach. The enterprise must look at its basic reasons for existence and seek to justify these. Stakeholders, from regulators to financiers to consumers, will put increasing focus on the fundamental question and expect the company to justify its position by “owning” its liabilities including carbon and water footprints. The production of a comprehensive action plan will back up any stated principle of adherence to corporate sustainability.
About Verisae
Verisae helps measure, manage and reduce equipment and energy costs including the related business and environmental impacts of carbon emissions. The Sustainability Resource Planning (“SRP”) software platform improves operational efficiency, protects brand integrity and helps ensure regulatory compliance for distributed enterprises across many industries. Verisae delivers a broad range of sustainability solutions to dozens of clients globally with thousands of daily users including an extended network of third-party suppliers. Verisae’s integrated sustainability platform actively tracks millions of assets across thousands of sites worldwide.
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