Veolia Water and Veolia Environnement's Research & Innovation group developed the Water Impact Index, the first indicator enabling a comprehensive assessment of the impact of human activity on water resources.
The Water Impact Index
It is a tool that can help municipalities and industrials plan long-term projects and better understand sustainable approaches to ensure lasting water supplies and healthy water ecosystems.
Water footprint: not only a matter of volume
The Water Impact Index expands on existing volume-based water measurement tools by factoring in three essential elements: quantity of water used, level of stress upon water resources and overall water quality.
The Water Impact Index examines the effect of human activity on water resources and provides a methodology for establishing positive and negative implications of how water resources are managed. It provides additional parameters needed to make informed choices about effective water management.
“The Water Impact Index... is an intellectually sound way of measuring the impact of water usage, and it should be more widely adopted by the industry. It shows the value that water treatment offers the world.”
Global Water Intelligence
Water Impact Index Methodology
The Water Impact Index considers both direct and indirect influences of an activity from "cradle to grave" - whether managing a textile production facility or a wastewater treatment plant. It incorporates the volume and quality of water extracted and released back into the environment and adds the Water Stress Index, which accounts for the level of stress on the resource. This new index gives us the water impact, including indirect elements from the production chain such as energy, raw materials, chemicals and waste generated.
The Water Impact Index enables evaluation of how other water usages (both human and natural through ecosystems) could potentially be affected through mismanagement of water or wastewater systems.
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