May 12, 2026 • 4 min read
Water stewardship: Why it’s important for the energy industry
Water availability can seem like a secondary consideration in decarbonization projects. But this precious resource can make or break a project.
Energy, chemicals and resources producers need to rethink their water management strategies to be resilient, economic, and socially acceptable in the face of climate change.
Water demand is evolving, as some long‑standing water intensive processes such as coal fired power generation are phased out. Meanwhile, emerging water intensive energy transition activities will grow in scale such as renewable hydrogen production, industrial‑scale data center development, battery manufacturing, low carbon fuels, and mining for critical energy transition minerals.
The world’s sustainability goals depend on the viability of these facilities. But an unsatisfactory water supply – or a lack of social license for a project’s approach to sourcing water – can grind projects to a halt.
What can producers do to guarantee their future water supply?
Defining the industrial water supply challenge
Most industrial processes require millions of liters of water each day. Identifying a secure and sustainable water source to supply this large volume of water is a challenge for many industrial projects, particularly in water stressed regions.
Water stewardship, natural capital enhancement and broader societal benefits are increasingly shaping how projects move forward.
A resilient water supply, supported by reliable and cost‑effective water management, is critical for long‑term value, investor confidence, and a social license to operate.
For example, producing 1 kg of hydrogen requires 9.5 to 13 liters of ultra-pure water. This doesn’t include the cooling water needs, which can add another 60 to 90 liters of water per kilogram of hydrogen (GWI, 2023). A 50,000 ton-per-day copper mine will consume around 30,000 m3 of fresh water each day. That’s enough to fill an 80,000‑seat stadium, like Brazil’s Maracanã, in about seven weeks. And a nuclear power plant can consume up to 2.75 m3 of water per megawatt hour of generation.
Even if there is enough fresh water to run these processes from a nearby source, this is just one aspect of the water supply challenge. Sourcing large volumes of water responsibly, a critical component of water stewardship, is essential for projects to attain funding via ESG-aware investors. And to meet stringent environmental regulations.
How can water intensive industries source and manage water resources?
The availability of fresh water from a nearby river or lake depends on the geography of the region. For projects in regions with abundant water supply, it’s possible to source fresh water directly for industrial uses.
However, proximity is just one factor to consider. Freshwater availability also depends on the technical viability of transporting water to a facility, the associated environmental impacts, and earning the social license to operate from communities and native landowners.
In drier regions, sourcing fresh water directly is more challenging. For example, miners in the copper-rich Atacama Desert in Chile have limited access to fresh water to run their processing facilities. In these situations, they need to explore other options to make up the water deficit to run their equipment.
The role of water desalination plants in water stressed regions
In places where fresh water is limited, water desalination can provide a stable, alternative source of usable water for industry.
Desalination is a technique to remove salt and other minerals from seawater, inland seas, brackish water from rivers or even wastewater. And while desalination plants are often built to provide drinkable water to populations in water stressed regions, a growing share of global desalination capacity is being devoted to refineries, mines, power plants, and oil and gas facilities.
Desalination infrastructure can be cost competitive with other possible sources of water in dry regions. And it’s particularly viable if plant owners can demonstrate environmentally sensitive strategies to manage the brine by-product of the desalination process.
Working with a customer in the Middle East, we planned for a sustainable desalination project by turning the waste stream into a product line. This was an important step forward for zero liquid discharge where we develop a circular economy from the brine waste. This minimizes environmental impacts by preventing brine from being discharged into the sea.
Water lifecycle cost reduction – treating and reusing industrial wastewater to make projects viable
The cost of clean water is rising, placing increasing pressure on industrial users to improve efficiency and rethink how water is managed. This is driving greater focus on reuse, circular systems, and shared value approaches. At the same time, more countries are committing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, requiring more integrated and transformative water management strategies.
Facilities like refineries, power stations, smelters and chemical plants produce large volumes of wastewater. This water needs to be treated to remove the harmful chemicals, and then it’s usually returned to the environment.
However, owners of water intensive facilities can also explore strategies to integrate treatment and reuse of the wastewater from their processes, in an ongoing cycle.
This is possible through desalination, or a series of other proven and readily available water treatment processes, depending on the nature of the wastewater.
While more costly than accessing fresh water directly, this circular approach to water management is advantageous in water stressed or remote regions. It can drastically reduce the water footprint of emerging industrial facilities, such as refineries for renewable fuels. Or it can even see new collaborations between facilities in water stressed regions, with one facility’s wastewater solving a nearby facility’s water access challenge.
Finding the right water management solution for industrial projects
Water access can’t be an afterthought when planning the next generation of complex critical infrastructure, energy, chemicals and resources projects. As water scarcity occurs in more places because of climate change, and competition for fresh water grows, water alone can prevent a project from proceeding.
Aspiring facility owners need to establish the right water solution as soon as possible because water sourcing can add years to a project schedule. But by demonstrating water stewardship from the beginning, operators can access the water they need with minimal environmental and social impacts.
Achieving net-zero ambitions depends on robust water stewardship. This requires effective wastewater management frameworks and technologies that enable integrated treatment and reuse. Together, these approaches deliver water supply that is socially equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable.
