Each of us uses water at home for cooking, bathing, laundry but our larger water footprint is the ‘hidden’ water in all the products we use or consume. Depending upon what we eat and our lifestyle, we can have a larger or smaller water footprint. And where is this water footprint? It’s all around the world, linking us to rivers and aquifers, communities, plants and animals far from our homes.

While the price of water is rarely a driving force, many companies are awakening to the fact that their business is reliant on water, in their operations or their supply chain. The water footprint can help all producers learn about their water dependence and plot a course for addressing water-related business risks.

The water footprint isn’t only for products and companies, it also tells us how much water is being consumed or polluted in a river basin, a region or a country. As goods are traded between countries, imported and exported, the water footprint follows in the form of virtual water. For a country to secure water, food, energy and international relations, it needs to consider how it is using its own water and the water of other countries to provide goods and services to its citizens.