Many organizations track their electricity use, carbon footprint, and operating expenses—but when it comes to water, they’re often in the dark about how much water they use and where it’s being consumed. This lack of visibility, known as water blindness, prevents organizations from understanding how much water they use, where it’s being consumed, and where waste occurs.
A water footprint represents the total water usage of a property, facility, or organization. However, without breaking down water use by category—such as irrigation, cooling towers, restrooms, kitchens, and industrial processes—organizations miss key opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce waste.
One of the most effective ways to gain this visibility is by conducting a water audit. Similar to financial audits, a water audit systematically measures and analyzes water use across all areas of a facility, ensuring that every gallon is accounted for. Through this process, organizations can identify inefficiencies, detect leaks, and uncover opportunities for conservation.
Water balancing builds upon this foundation by continuously tracking water use, helping organizations fine-tune operations and implement data-driven water efficiency projects. Without this level of insight, cost-saving opportunities and sustainability efforts remain out of reach.
Where Does Water Go?
Most properties use water across various systems, indoors and outdoors. Conducting a water audit is the first step in identifying inefficiencies and opportunities for conservation. A comprehensive audit provides visibility into where water is consumed, allowing facility managers to implement smarter monitoring solutions that minimize onsite water use without impacting the mission of the facility or the tenants.
Indoor Water Use:
- Restrooms: According to EPA WaterSense, sanitary fixtures and equipment in restrooms and laundries can account for nearly 50 percent of total water use within a facility, with leaking toilets wasting up to 21,600 gallons per month.
- Kitchens & Food Service Areas: Dishwashers, ice machines, and beverage stations use thousands of gallons monthly.
- Cooling Towers & HVAC Systems: Cooling towers are one of the largest water consumers in commercial buildings, sometimes accounting for up to 50% of a building’s total water use. Without proper monitoring and maintenance, they can lead to significant water waste due to evaporation and inefficient cycles of concentration.
- Hospital & Industrial Use: Sterilization, laundry, and medical equipment cleaning demand substantial water resources.
Outdoor Water Use:
- Irrigation Systems: Many properties overwater landscapes due to a lack of real-time data on actual plant needs.
- Fountains & Decorative Water Features: If not managed properly, these can be high water consumers.
- Leaks & Water Loss: Aging infrastructure, underground irrigation line breaks, and faulty valves lead to significant unaccounted-for water loss.
For many organizations, water use data is fragmented or entirely absent. Without real-time tracking, inefficiencies persist, and conservation efforts stall.
How to Track and Reduce Your Water Footprint
Step 1: Conduct a Facility Water Audit
A facility water balance categorizes water use across a property, helping organizations identify inefficiencies, leaks, and unknown consumption. However, before a facility can accurately balance its water use, it must first assess where water is being used—and wasted.
This process often begins with a comprehensive water audit, which systematically evaluates all water inputs and outputs and provides a detailed breakdown of consumption across irrigation, restrooms, kitchens, cooling towers, and industrial processes, revealing areas where waste can be reduced.
By pairing water audits with ongoing facility water balancing, organizations gain the real-time data and insights needed to make strategic, data-driven decisions that ensure long-term conservation and cost savings.
Step 2: Analyze Findings & Identify Priorities
With water audit data in hand, the next step is to analyze key insights and prioritize efficiency efforts where they matter most. Focusing on the largest water consumers and areas of greatest waste drives the most meaningful improvements.
Key areas to assess:
- High-Consumption Systems: Identifying major users like irrigation, cooling towers, and restrooms.
- Unaccounted-for Water Loss: Detecting leaks, inefficiencies, or abnormal usage trends.
- Operational Adjustments: Optimizing schedules, equipment settings, or policies to reduce waste.
Prioritizing high-impact areas first ensures smarter resource allocation, greater conservation gains, and measurable progress toward sustainability goals.
Step 3: Implement Smart Water Monitoring & Efficiency Initiatives
Traditional water bills only show total consumption, offering little insight into where efficiencies can be gained. Smart water monitoring systems—like HydroPoint’s WaterCompass and WeatherTRAK—provide organizations real-time visibility into water use, allowing them to:
- Detect leaks early and prevent unnecessary waste
- Optimize irrigation schedules to match actual landscape needs
- Improve efficiency in restrooms, kitchens, and cooling towers
Beyond monitoring, water efficiency initiatives can further reduce waste and strengthen sustainability efforts. Upgrading to high-efficiency toilets and faucets, transitioning to xeriscape landscaping, and installing smart irrigation systems are all proven strategies for cutting water consumption.
For example, KITE Realty Group, a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently received industry recognition for its water efficiency and environmental impact initiatives. By installing WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controllers at 25% of its properties, adopting drought-tolerant landscaping, and actively monitoring water use, KITE Realty saved 30.8 million gallons of water in 2023 alone—demonstrating how technology-driven conservation efforts can achieve measurable results.
By combining real-time monitoring with targeted efficiency upgrades, organizations can maximize water savings, reduce environmental impact, and build long-term resilience against water scarcity.
Step 4: Set Goals and Track Progress
With real-time water use visibility, monitoring, and management, organizations can establish clear conservation goals, such as:
- Cutting total water use by a defined percentage
- Reducing irrigation consumption with data-driven scheduling
- Implementing leak detection programs
Tracking progress with live data ensures that goals are met, and efficiency efforts continue improving over time.
Take Action: Enhance Water Efficiency Today
Water is a finite resource, and organizations must take proactive steps to conserve it. Without clear visibility, inefficiencies persist, costs rise, and sustainability goals slip further away.
Understanding your water footprint is the first step toward smarter water management. Real-time monitoring helps teams identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and make informed decisions that drive conservation. With HydroPoint’s WaterCompass and WeatherTRAK solutions, organizations can cut waste, lower costs, and improve sustainability efforts.
Ready to take control? Contact us today to start reducing water waste.