15. The objective of this DR is to enable users to understand the undertaking's water performance.

16. The undertaking shall disclose the following water metrics for its own operations:

Footnote to paragraph 16(e)
This information supports the information needs of financial market participants subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 because it is derived from a mandatory indicator related to principal adverse impacts as set out by indicator #6.2 in Table 2 of Annex I of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 with regard to disclosure rules on sustainable investments ('Weighted average percentage of water recycled and reused by investee companies').

AR 4 for para. 16 (Water metrics)
​Water consumption (C) can be measured directly, modelled, estimated or calculated by subtracting total water discharge (D) from total water withdrawal (W) during the reporting period: C = W - D.

AR 5 for para. 16 (Water metrics units)
Water metrics under paragraph 16(a)–(f) shall be presented in cubic meters (m³) or multiples thereof.

“The sum of all water drawn into the boundaries of the undertaking from all sources for any use over the course of the reporting period.”

“The sum of effluents and other water leaving the boundaries of the undertaking and released to surface water, groundwater, or third parties over the course of the reporting period.”

“The amount of water drawn into the boundaries of the undertaking and not discharged back to the water environment or a third party over the course of the reporting period.”

“The ability, or lack thereof, to meet the human and ecological demand for water. Water stress is an inclusive concept that considers several physical aspects related to water resources, including water availability, water quality, and the accessibility of water (i.e. whether people are able to make use of physically available water supplies), which is often a function of the sufficiency of infrastructure and the affordability of water, among other things.”

“Water and wastewater (treated or untreated) that has been used more than once before being discharged from the undertaking’s boundary, so that water demand is reduced. This may be in the same process (recycled) or in a different process within the same facility (own or shared with other undertakings) or in another of the undertaking’s facilities (reused).”

Figure source: VSME Standard, EFRAG, December 2024

A company operates a production facility that uses water to make beverages.

In practice, the water volumes that are requested can be determined as follows:

Re 3)
The calculation for company "X" can, for example, be based on the average water consumption per person in the building, multiplied by the number of people who work at company "X".

This calculation can be extended with further factors: the employment time of the people (weekly working hours or working days per year) and different water consumption in different parts of the building (e.g. canteen).

Concrete example calculations and alternative approaches (e.g. calculations based on flow rates), including useful reference works for data collection, can be found in the VSME Standard in the section "B6 - Water" (p. 30 ff.).