Water sustainability management

Water: our most valuable resource

Nature Water

We are facing a real water crisis that can only be solved with the sustainable consumption, promotion of clean energies, optimisation of production processes and the use of recycled water.

For a water sustenaibility management.

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) warned that Earth will have a 40% water deficit by 2030 if it cannot manage to change its current consumption habits. Despite the progress made in relation to responsible use and improvement of the infrastructures of this natural resource, demographic growth is still a huge challenge, in which society, governments and companies must collaborate to achieve the necessary results.

Human and commercial consumption, agricultural and industrial activity, the production of energy and everyday foodstuffs... all of these require large amounts of water, which is now threatened by contamination and climate change. It is vital to raise the awareness on the need to efficiently manage water resources, guaranteeing their quality and preventing their degradation, with the purpose of not putting at a risk their availability in the future.

Have you heard about the water footprint?

It is defined as the amount of freshwater used to produce the goods and services consumed by the citizens of a country, by industry or individuals, which represents a much higher indirect consumption than we would ever imagine.

From 1 to 50 litres 1-50 litres
From 100 to 150 litres 100-150 litres
More than 1,000 litres + 1,000 litres
Manufacturing a
cotton t-shirt
4,100 l
Manufacturing a car
400,000 l
Cooking a
hamburger
2,345 l
One litre
of petrol
50 l
One sheet
of paper
10 l
Manufacturing
a computer
50 l
A 500ml beer
bottle
150 l
One 10-minute
shower
130 l
6,700 litres per day
average water footprint
per Spanish citizen
Source: Water Footprint Network.

 SEE INFOGRAPHIC: Have you heard about the water footprint? [PDF] External link, opens in new window.

The protection and sustainable consumption of water is one of the pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, which is aimed at making sure that the entire planet has access to clean and uncontaminated water that has been managed with a responsible approach.

In line with the SDGs, Iberdrola performs comprehensive controls on the specific use and consumption of this resource. The company is positioned as one of the utilities with the best water productivity (revenues/water used) *. The goal of the company is to reduce the intensity of water use/production by 50% in 2030 compared to 2019. However, the protection of this resource also requires a high commitment to respect biodiversity.
 

 Water usage

 Energy storage