How to assess water impacts in your company’s facilities

Modified on Thu, 26 Feb at 10:51 AM

Introduction
What is the water impact of a facility
How to assess the water impacts of your facilities
What to do with the results of the assessment
Common pitfalls and practical tips
Next steps and related resources

Introduction

Water use can generate significant environmental, social, and operational impacts for a company, especially in areas experiencing water stress or scarcity. Understanding how your facilities use water—and whether they are located in areas of water risk—is a key step in managing these impacts responsibly and in alignment with B Lab’s Standards.

This article explains how to assess water impacts across your facilities, including what data to collect, how to identify water-related impacts, and how to prioritize locations that require greater attention. It is intended for companies seeking to strengthen their environmental management practices and meet the Environmental Stewardship & Circularity ESC1.3 and ESC1.4 requirements in the B Lab Standards V2.1.

What is the water impact of a facility

The water impact of a facility refers to how the operations at that site use water and the impacts associated with that use, taking into account the local context and the potential environmental, social, and operational consequences.

This may include, for example:

How much water is withdrawn or consumed at the facility
Whether the site is located in an area experiencing water scarcity or water stress
Whether water use could affect local communities, ecosystems, or future water availability
Whether there are challenges related to water quality, access, or shared use of the resource

Assessing these impacts helps companies understand where water use poses a significant negative impact and focus their management efforts on the most relevant facilities.

How to assess the water impacts of your facilities

Assessing the water impacts across your facilities involves understanding how much water you use, where the greatest impacts are concentrated, and which sites require closer attention. The steps below provide a practical approach to carry out this assessment and prioritize actions based on informed decisions.

Step 1: Monitor water use at each facility

Start by carefully evaluating if water consumption or water withdrawal (or both) is a more critical metric for your company and gather data accordingly at each of your facilities.

You can use, for example:

Water utility bills
Internal consumption records
Direct measurements or documented estimates

Does your process involve high water consumption or is your facility located in a high water risk area? Then measuring water consumption is likely critical for its impact.

The goal is to have a basic and consistent understanding of how much water each site uses.

Step 2: Identify which facilities use the most water

Using the data collected:

Compare water use across your different facilities
Identify which sites account for the highest consumption or withdrawal

Step 3* — Assess whether your facilities are located in areas of water risk

If your company is medium or large, the next step is to analyze the local context where your facilities operate.

For each site:

Check whether it is located in areas experiencing water stress, scarcity, or availability risk
You may rely on public water risk assessment tools (such as the WWF Water Risk Filter or the World Resources Institute Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas) or information from local authorities.
Detect sites where water may represent a more significant impact

A site may represent a relevant water-related impact when, for example:

It uses large volumes of water compared to other facilities
It operates in an area where water is scarce or under water stress
It depends on water sources shared with communities or sensitive ecosystems

Step 4* — Evaluate the significance of the impact

Assess how likely and how severe the water impact could be by looking at:

How much water each facility uses
The level of water-related risk in its location

If your facility discharges water into nature, your company may also look at the quality of the water it discharges and the potential of water pollution.

This allows you to identify the most critical facilities, for example:

Sites with water use in high-risk areas
Operations in locations where water is a particularly sensitive resource

Even if your facility consumes lower levels of water, if it is an area with high water risk it can have a significant impact. There may be other stakeholders that rely on the same watershed (like local businesses, municipality, indigenous and local communities).

This initial analysis helps focus attention on the facilities where water use may create more significant environmental impacts. While water use may also have social implications, ESC focuses on environmental impacts, and companies should assess social dimensions under the relevant Human Rights requirements.

*Steps 3 and 4 are especially relevant for medium and larger companies, or for companies operating in areas with higher water-related risk.

Step 5 — Prioritize the facilities that require the most action

Use the information gathered in the previous steps to determine which facilities require greater attention, based on water use, water-risk in the location and sensitivity of the local context.

In general, high water consuming facilities and facilities that are located in areas with high water risk are likely to be among the ones your company should prioritize for improvement actions, more detailed monitoring, or the development of specific water management plans.

Even an initial and simple analysis can be enough to start making more informed decisions and guide the next steps in water management.

Where relevant, companies may also consider circular water management approaches, such as reducing losses, reusing water, or recycling water within their operations.

What to do with the results of the assessment

After assessing the water impacts of your facilities, you can use that information to make informed decisions about water management.
The goal is not to address all sites with the same level of effort, but to focus efforts where actual or potential impacts are the greatest.

1. Define actions based on priority level

Based on the assessment, you can:

Identify priority facilities that require immediate attention
Differentiate between sites that need specific actions and those that only require ongoing monitoring

For example:

Facilities in areas of high water risk may require more detailed water management plans.
Sites with low potential impacts can be managed through periodic monitoring.

2. Establish proportionate and realistic actions

Actions may vary depending on the company’s context and capacity, and may include:

Practices to reduce consumption or losses
Practices to improve water-use efficiency
Practices to reuse water with minimal or no treatment
Practices to improve water quality and recycle wastewater
Practices to return water of a specific quality to where it was taken from
Practices to help take resources (other than water) out of wastewater and put them to use
Improved monitoring and control processes

3. Integrate the results into management and planning

Use the results of the assessment to:

Inform operational and investment decisions
Prioritize internal resources and efforts
Guide the development of water management or sustainability plans
Track performance over time

This helps ensure that water management becomes an integrated part of the company’s environmental management system, rather than a one-time exercise.

4. Review and update the assessment periodically

Water-related impacts and operations can change over time. For this reason, it is recommended to:

Review the assessment periodically
Adjust priorities when conditions in the environment or the business change

Common pitfalls and practical tips

When assessing the water impacts across your facilities, it is normal to encounter challenges or incomplete information. Here are some common pitfalls and practical recommendations to help address them.

Common pitfall 1: Waiting for perfect data before starting

Many companies delay the assessment because they do not have precise measurements or historical data.

Tip:
Start with the best available information, even if it is partial. Water bills, reasonable estimates, or internal records can be sufficient to begin the analysis and improve data quality over time.

Common pitfall 2: Analyzing only total company-wide water use

Reviewing only aggregated water consumption can hide important differences between facilities.

Tip:
Whenever possible, review data by facility. This helps identify sites where water use is more significant and allows you to prioritize actions more effectively.

Common pitfall 3: Not considering the local context

The same volume of water use can have very different impacts depending on the facility’s location.

Tip:
Assess the local context of each site. A facility with moderate consumption may require greater attention if it is located in an area with water stress or supply restrictions.

Common pitfall 4: Trying to address all sites at the same time

Attempting to implement actions across all facilities simultaneously can slow progress.

Tip:
Prioritize facilities in areas of high water risk. Focusing efforts where impact is greatest supports more strategic progress.

Common pitfall 5: Treating the assessment as a one-time exercise

Some companies conduct the assessment once and do not revisit it.

Tip:
Review the information periodically. Water consumption levels, operations, and environmental conditions can change over time. Updating the assessment helps maintain more effective water management.

Assessing the water impacts across your facilities is a first step toward strengthening your environmental management practices. Once you have this information, you can use it to move forward with more targeted improvement actions and planning. Suggested next steps:

Integrate the results of the assessment into your environmental or sustainability management processes.
Develop actions to improve water-use efficiency at priority facilities.
Set water management goals or plans when relevant risks are identified.
Conduct regular monitoring of water consumption or withdrawal and local conditions.

These actions can help you advance on water-related requirements within B Lab’s Standards and address your water impacts.

To explore this topic further, you may find the following resources helpful:

Environmental Stewardship and Circularity Impact Topic overview
Available in multiple languages.

Evidence examples for the Environmental Stewardship and Circularity Impact Topic

Available in multiple languages.