What are water-related GHG emissions?

Emissions associated with the use of water come from the energy used to produce potable water and distribute it through the mains supply network.

Emissions from withdrawal, treatment and transportation of fresh water for consumption are classified under Scope 3.1 of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol (Purchased goods and services).

Emissions from the treatment of wastewater are classified under Scope 3.5 (Waste Generated in Operations).

These emissions are associated with the consumption of water and the treatment of wastewater in your business operations.

What you’ll need to get started

To calculate the emissions from your usage or treatment of water , you’ll need:

Water consumption figures (volume of water used)
Wastewater volume measurement, if separate

These figures may be available from your water (and effluent) meter, which can be read manually or may be a smart meter reporting consumption automatically. If meter data is not available, figures from water bills can be used.

Choosing the right option

The options available will depend on whether you have connected your accounting platform and the data you have available.

If you have connected your financial accounting platform

There are a number of possible scenarios when completing this module. Follow the steps that best describes your situation:

1. Your business did not use water during this period

Select “I don’t have these emissions” from the module’s front page. This confirms that your business didn’t use any water during the selected quarter.
The module will be marked as complete and a 0kg CO₂e footprint will be applied for this quarter.

2. If you know how much water you used or bought

Select “Volume of water used”, choose Water and enter the volume of water used (in cubic metres or litres). This ensures the most accurate footprint calculation.
If you have a separate wastewater measurement, select “Add another value” and enter the volume of wastewater (in cubic metres or litres). If wastewater is not separately metered, this is estimated from water supply minus losses in product, evaporation, leakage, etc.
Usage data will override any spend data for the same category within this quarter. Add all your usage data for this category to ensure accurate calculations. You can add this as one item or choose "Add another value" to add multiple items.
Repeat this process for all categories where you have usage details, even if there's no spend data in the system. If you don’t have usage data for certain categories, we’ll estimate emissions based on spend data.

3. If you don't know how much water you used or bought

If you can't provide any usage data, don’t worry. The system will calculate your water emissions based on the spend data available.
To check your water spends for this period, go to the Transactions screen. Apply a date filter for this financial quarter and a category filter for Water. If you have any water spends, you'll see the option labelled “I confirm my water expenses are accurate and I cannot provide further details." Choose this option to confirm that you can't provide usage data and want the system to calculate your water emissions based on your spend data. Your footprint for this module will be recorded, and the module will be marked as complete.
If you don’t have any transactions for water, you'll see the option labelled “I confirm I have no water expenses and I cannot provide further details."
Selecting this option will mark the module as complete, but your footprint will have a gap. You can always amend this later if you find the data.

4. If you pay for water as part of your council tax (Scotland only)

Select “Council tax band” and enter the council tax band as provided by your local council. Your spend data will be applied for water usage based on the council tax band.
If your business has multiple locations paying council tax, select “Add council tax band for another property” and select that property’s council tax band.

If you pay for water as part of your council tax band in Scotland but you have usage data for a site for any quarter, enter the usage data instead of selecting a council tax band. For multiple sites where usage data isn’t available for all sites:

Use council tax bands only for sites without usage data.
Click "Add new entry" to input usage data for other sites.
Make sure each site is listed only once—do not enter both a council tax band and usage data for the same site.
If you're unsure whether your data is entered correctly or need help with this module, please contact us.

If you have not connected a financial accounting platform or if the date range for this module is prior to your integration start date

There are a number of possible scenarios when completing this module. Follow the steps that best describes your situation:

1. Your business did not use water during this period

Select “I don’t have these emissions” from the module’s front page. This confirms that your business didn’t use any water during the selected quarter.
The module will be marked as complete and a 0kg CO₂e footprint will be applied for this quarter.

2. If you know how much water you used or bought

Select “Volume of water used”. Enter the volume of water (in cubic metres or litres). This gives you the most accurate footprint calculation.
If you have a separate wastewater measurement, select “Add another value” and enter the volume of wastewater (in cubic metres or litres). If wastewater is not separately metered, this is estimated from water supply minus losses in product, evaporation, leakage, etc.
Make sure you add usage data to account for your business's entire spend and usage within water or wastewater for this quarter. You can add this as one item or choose “Add another entry" and add multiple items.
Repeat this process for all categories that you have detail of how much you've bought or used by choosing “Add another entry" and providing the data for each activity.

3. If you do not know how much water you used, but you do know how much you spent on water

Select “Cost of water used” and choose “Water”. If you pay separately for wastewater but you do not have usage data - repeat the steps, selecting “Wastewater”.
Add the amount paid including VAT or any other taxes. Make sure you do not add cost details for any activities for which you've already provided the usage data (the amount used or bought).

4. If you pay for water as part of your council tax (Scotland only)

Select “Council tax band” and enter the council tax band as provided by your local council.
Your spend data for water usage will be calculated based on the council tax band.
If your business has multiple locations paying council tax, select “Add council tax band for another property” and select that property’s council tax band.

Use council tax bands only for sites without usage data.
Click + Add new entry to input usage data for other sites.
Make sure each site is listed only once—do not enter both a council tax band and usage data for the same site.
If you're unsure whether your data is entered correctly or need help with this module, please contact us.