Volume of surface water used for the organization's operations during the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used.
This metric is intended to capture the volume of surface water used within the organization for any purpose, including but not limited to productive processes (for example, packaging and manufacturing), human consumption, and agricultural purposes.
Surface water occurs naturally on the Earth’s surface in the form of ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams. For further details, see the IRIS+ glossary term. This metric applies to organizations sourcing their water directly from an above-ground water body rather than from a water service provider. This metric, as well as other metrics calculated using Water Withdrawn (OI0263) and Water Discharged (OI0386), can be used in conjunction with Water Type (OD7536) to describe water consumption in more detail.
For further guidance on water uses, see the Alliance for Water Efficiency (http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org).
In some contexts, this metric can serve as an indicator of whether the outcome being sought by an investor or organization is occurring (the WHAT dimension of impact). For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.
This is a submetric of Water Consumed: Total (OI1697), which has 6 other related submetrics.
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revision to usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
Immaterial change. Edited metric name, formula, and usage guidance to clarify and link to underlying IRIS+ metrics.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
No change.
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
New metric. Water Used: Surface Water (OI8060) was developed via the IRIS Taxonomy Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).