When businesses think about reducing energy costs and carbon emissions, water is rarely high on the list. That is a missed opportunity. Every cubic metre of water you buy carries an upstream carbon footprint. Once it reaches your site, more energy may be needed to pump, heat, cool or treat it. And when it leaves, you may pay again through sewerage and wastewater treatment charges.
Reducing water consumption is therefore about much more than lowering the water bill. It can cut energy use, reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, improve operational efficiency and strengthen resilience against rising costs and water scarcity.
In other words, water should not sit separately from your energy and carbon strategy. It should be part of it.
Most decarbonisation strategies focus on reducing electricity, gas and fleet-fuel consumption through more efficient technologies, operational improvements and lower-carbon alternatives.
Water rarely receives the same attention, even though every cubic metre supplied to a site already carries an associated carbon cost. In fact, an estimated 2–3% of UK electricity is used to abstract, treat and pump water. That is a significant amount of energy. Ofwat reports that around 55% of the water sector’s electricity consumption is associated with wastewater processing.
This means water arrives at your site with an upstream carbon footprint before any on-site pumping, heating, cooling or processing begins. Once wastewater leaves the site, further energy and treatment may be required. The more water your organisation consumes, therefore, the more energy, carbon and cost may sit behind it.
From a carbon-reporting perspective, water can affect several areas of an organisation’s footprint.
Emissions associated with purchased water would normally fall within Scope 3, Category 1: Purchased Goods and Services. Wastewater treated by a third-party provider is generally accounted for separately under Scope 3, Category 5: Waste Generated in Operations.
Where possible, organisations should obtain supplier-specific emissions data for both incoming water and wastewater treatment. Where this is unavailable, an appropriate government emissions factor can be used, with the methodology and reporting year clearly documented.
But the carbon impact does not stop with the water supplier.
Once water enters a facility, further energy may be required to:
Heating is often the largest of these loads. Water requires a significant amount of energy to increase its temperature, which is why hot-water, steam and cleaning systems can represent a substantial hidden energy cost.
The same properties that make water useful for heating and cleaning also make it the default medium for many industrial cooling processes.
That creates an important commercial link: reduce unnecessary water use and you may also reduce the amount of gas, electricity and chemicals needed to manage it.
Water efficiency is not merely a utility-cost exercise.
Done properly, it can reduce:
This is what makes water efficiency commercially valuable.
A repaired leak does not just reduce the number of cubic metres appearing on a water bill. If that water would otherwise have been heated, pumped or treated, the intervention can deliver energy and carbon savings too.
Likewise, recovering hot water, heat or condensate can reduce incoming water demand while also cutting the energy needed to heat replacement water. One intervention can therefore create savings across several budgets and carbon categories.
The carbon case for water efficiency is only part of the picture. Water availability, infrastructure investment and operating costs are becoming increasingly important considerations for businesses.
Through the 2024 price review, Ofwat allocated £104 billion of infrastructure investment through to 2030. Much of that cost will continue to feed through into tariffs over the coming years. That means every cubic metre saved is likely to become more valuable.
The Environment Agency has also estimated that, without further action, England could face a public water-supply deficit of up to five billion litres per day by 2055. For businesses, this is not simply an environmental concern. Water scarcity can create operational disruption, increase costs and affect the viability of future growth or site expansion. It may also bring greater scrutiny of corporate water consumption, ESG performance and reduction plans.
Organisations that understand their exposure now will be better placed to manage rising costs, identify operational risks and make informed investment decisions.
The first step is to understand where water enters your site, how it is used and what happens before it is discharged.
Start by reviewing water-consumption data alongside operating hours, production volumes and energy use.
Looking at these datasets together can help identify unexpected demand, inefficient processes and areas where water and energy consumption are closely linked.
Key questions include:
The next step is to prioritise the opportunities.
These may include repairing leaks, improving controls, reducing unnecessary temperatures, optimising cleaning processes, recovering heat or reusing water between processes. The most valuable projects are not always major capital investments. Small operational changes can deliver quick returns, particularly where water and energy use overlap.
For organisations in scope of ESOS, reviewing on-site water-related energy use may also identify additional efficiency opportunities within buildings and industrial processes. But identifying opportunities is only the start.
Most businesses can produce a list of possible water-saving measures. The real challenge is turning those findings into a coordinated implementation plan, assigning responsibility and measuring whether each intervention delivers the expected financial, operational and carbon results.
True Group supports organisations through consumption-data analysis, auditing, leak monitoring and detection, process optimisation and heat recovery.
We help identify where water is driving unnecessary cost, energy consumption and emissions, then turn those findings into a prioritised plan.
That means assessing each opportunity against practical commercial questions:
The result is not simply another list of sustainability actions. It is a measurable plan that connects water efficiency with operating costs, energy performance and carbon reduction.
Because every litre you do not waste is water you do not buy, energy you do not use and carbon you do not emit.
Let’s leave no taps unturned. Speak to one of our experts.