This guidance is concerned with water consumption (the procurement of water using equipment or the use of water in the delivery of a service that is being procured) and water production (the procurement of products that are known to be water intensive in their production).
The guidance reinforces the criticality of pre-procurement consideration of intended outcomes and optimum methods of delivery, involving mature dialogue internally and with the market. It also provides relevant procurement guidance, aligned with the Procurement Journey, with example clauses in the Annex.
Users of this guidance are encouraged to complete sustainable procurement e-learning including the Climate Literacy module, available from the Sustainable Procurement Tools portal.
The guidance is part of a series of guides which support the sustainable procurement duty tools to help public sector organisations embed sustainability into their procurement processes. This guidance may be considered, where relevant, alongside the Climate Change – Adaptation guide.
The Sustainability Test, is a self-assessment tool designed to help buyers embed relevant and proportionate sustainability requirements consistently in the development of contracts and frameworks. The Sustainability Test includes the following question:
Examples of products and materials that require extensive use of water in the production process include:
Examples of products or services that routinely involve consumption of water include: construction and facilities management (e.g. catering, cleaning, laundry, grounds maintenance).
The above examples are not in order of importance. This is by no means an exhaustive list and should not be treated as such.
Many of the products procured by the public sector have significant volumes of water embedded in their production process. Embedded water is water used to produce food and non-food products. Much of the embedded water we consume is used up in other nations, as goods and materials are imported.
Water foot-printing tries to calculate the amount of water used to produce various food and non-food products. This gives us a measure of volume but no gauge of the impact. The impact may depend on the country of origin, local water scarcity, the season in which the water is consumed and social impacts. It thus might be linked to other risks and opportunities, such as Fairly and Ethically trade.
When considering the use of embedded water, organisations should analyse both the levels and source of water used by suppliers. A high volumetric water footprint does not necessarily mean high impacts and vice versa. Importing goods with a high water footprint from areas with high rainfall and good water management may be preferable to importing goods with a lower water footprint from areas where water is scarce.
Organisations could report on engagement with their suppliers to reduce their consumption of embedded water, including steps taken to obtain data from significant suppliers on the level and source of their water use and steps taken through procurement and supplier engagement to encourage more sustainable water use by suppliers.
Water shares many of the carbon impacts more widely associated with electricity and natural gas (e.g. the carbon emissions related to its production and distribution).
Water is a highly treated product: not only do we use lots of energy, but chemical treatment is required to remove impurities and ensure that drinking water meets mandatory standards (as set out in The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014).
In addition to these impacts, water has a post-consumption carbon footprint as wastewater needs to be treated before it can be discharged into a river, loch or sea. This carbon footprint is often higher than that related to production and distribution.
Throughout the water supply infrastructure, energy use is:
