The seven-point plan for holistic water management provides a useful bite-size framework for all businesses to develop a resource management plan to structure and prioritise their water management.
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Benchmarks for water use
Resources for effective water management
Facing a growing population and climate change, we need to build resilience and work together to use less water, more effectively. Businesses are responsible for around 25% of the water Greater Sydney uses. There are lots of ways to improve your business's water management practices.
Saving water makes good business sense
From big manufacturers to small businesses, the benefits of using less water, more effectively, go beyond saving money – it improves the triple bottom line: profit, people and the planet. By saving water, you'll:
- pay less on water use, energy use, chemical use, wastewater discharge and trade wastewater charges
- save on maintenance and capital costs of equipment by managing water better
- reduce your environmental impact by reducing your site's carbon emissions, demand for water from our dams and discharge that must be treated before it's released into rivers and oceans
- build your brand as an environmentally conscious provider, improving your corporate social responsibility.
How to measure water management performance
Calculate your benchmark
The first step to using water more effectively is to understand how you use it. You do this by setting your business benchmark. Calculate your benchmark by dividing the water your business uses each quarter or each year by your key business activity indicator. Your key business activity indicator is the business activity or variable that affects the water use of your business.
Let's say your business is a childcare centre hosting about 30 children a day. Its water usage on the latest quarterly bill was 90 kilolitres (kL). To calculate your benchmark:
- Identify your key business activity indicator. For this childcare centre, the key business activity indicator is the number of children who attend the centre per day – 30 on average.
- Convert water usage from kL to litres (L) to align with the benchmark for childcare. Multiply the quarterly water usage – 90 kL – by 1,000. That's 90,000 L.
- Calculate your daily water use to align with the benchmark. Divide your quarterly water usage value – 90,000 L – by the days shown on your water bill. It’s usually around 90 days. 90,000 L over 90 days equals 1,000 L per day.
- Calculate your benchmark by dividing daily water use (1,000 L) by children per day (30). The benchmark is 33 L per child per day.
A benchmark of 33 L per child per day puts your business in the 'fair' range for the water-efficiency benchmark for childcare. You have an opportunity to improve practices and reduce water use to fall within the 'best practice' range of less than 20 L per child per day.
Track your business benchmark over time
By comparing your business benchmark over time you can track how your business is performing, verify the benefits of action taken to improve performance, and identify problems for investigation if water use increases unexpectedly.
Compare your benchmark to water-efficient benchmarks
Compare your business benchmark to the appropriate water-efficiency benchmark listed for your business type in the dropdowns below. You can easily identify if your business is water efficient or if there’s an opportunity to improve your water management practices, reduce your water use and use water more effectively.
How to improve water management practices
We've included benchmarks, best practice guidelines and resources that provide practical ideas on how your business can save water and use it more effectively.
For practical ideas on how your aquatic centre can save water and use it more effectively, read our Best practice guidelines for water management in aquatic leisure centres.
| Rating | Benchmark per bather | Benchmark per patron |
|---|---|---|
Best practice |
< 20 litres (L) per bather |
< 10 L per patron |
Efficient |
< 20 L to 40 L per bather |
10 L to 25 L per patron |
Fair |
40 L to 60 L per bather |
25 L to 40 L per patron |
Inefficient |
> 60 L per bather |
> 40 L per patron |
For practical ideas on how your childcare centre or preschool can save water and use it more effectively, see the summary findings of Water Savings Partnership pilot assessments in Water efficiencies in childcare centres.
| Rating | Benchmark |
|---|---|
Best practice |
< 25 L per child per day |
Fair |
25 L to 40 L per child per day |
Inefficient |
> 40 L per child per day |
For practical ideas on how your club can save water and use it more effectively, read our Best practice guidelines for water management in clubs.
| Club facility type | Benchmark |
|---|---|
With no cooling tower or swimming pool |
20 L per customer per day |
With cooling towers and no swimming pool |
22 L per customer per day |
With cooling towers and swimming pool |
28 L per customer per day |
| Rating | Benchmark |
|---|---|
Efficient |
< 35 L per food cover |
Fair |
35 L to 45 L per food cover |
Inefficient |
> 45 L per food cover |
| Rating | Benchmark without reuse water | Benchmark with reuse water |
|---|---|---|
Efficient |
17 L to 22 L per kilogram linen |
12 L to 15 L per kilogram linen |
Fair |
22 L to 26 L per kilogram linen |
15 L to 18 L per kilogram linen |
Inefficient |
> 26 L per kilogram linen |
> 18 L per kilogram linen |
For practical ideas on how your commercial office building or shopping centre can save water and use it more effectively, read these best practice guidelines:
- Best practice guidelines for commercial office buildings and shopping centres (part 1)
- Best practice guidelines for commercial office buildings and shopping centres (part 2)
- Best practice guidelines for commercial office buildings and shopping centres (part 3)
- Best practice guidelines for cooling towers in commercial buildings
| Rating | Benchmark with cooling towers | Benchmark without cooling towers |
|---|---|---|
Best practice |
0.77 kilolitres (kL) per square metre per year |
0.40 kL per square metre per year |
Efficient |
0.84 kL per square metre per year |
0.47 kL per square metre per year |
Fair |
1.01 kL per square metre per year |
0.64 kL per square metre per year |
We commissioned a water efficiency analysis for this segment for the City of Sydney and the Sustainable Destination Partnership. Explore the findings and recommendations in the Water efficiency segment study for hotels, hostels and entertainment venues.
| Rating | Benchmark |
|---|---|
Best practice |
0.40 kL per room per day |
Efficient |
0.40 kL to 0.45 kL per room per day |
For practical ideas on how you can save water and use it more effectively when managing turn and sports fields, read our Best practice guidelines for holistic open space turf management in Sydney.
| Rating | Best practice benchmark |
|---|---|
Elite |
4 million litres (ML) to 9 ML per hectare per year |
Regional |
2.5 ML to 5 ML per hectare per year |
Local |
1.5 ML to 3.5 ML per hectare per year |
Passive |
1.5 ML to 3.5 ML per hectare per year |
How we can support you
If you have a relationship manager, we can assist with benchmarking your business's water use. We'll organise a relationship management meeting to help you:
- identify your key business activity indicator
- track your historical water use
- determine your benchmark
- compare your benchmark to other similar businesses
- recommend efficiency improvements.
Call your business customer representative on 1300 985 227 or email us at businesscustomers@sydneywater.com.au.
Other ways we help businesses save water