What is Water positive?
Water positive is a corporate commitment to return more water to communities and nature than the business consumes, usually by a stated target year. It combines reducing water use at the company's own sites with replenishment projects in the watersheds where it operates.
What it is
There is no single regulatory definition of water positive. Companies set their own targets, often guided by stewardship frameworks and methods for counting replenishment benefits. The commitment usually covers operational water use and sometimes extends to supply chains.
A credible claim has two sides. The first is consumption: how much water the company withdraws and consumes, site by site. The second is replenishment: the measured or modeled volume returned through projects such as watershed restoration, leak reduction in community networks or access to water.
Who it applies to / where it is used
Water positive commitments are made by large technology, consumer goods, beverage and industrial companies, as well as some real estate owners. They affect data centers, factories, offices and campuses across the portfolio.
How it is measured / what evidence it needs
Stakeholders increasingly expect water claims to rest on measured data, not estimates.
- Metered withdrawals by site and source
- Consumption and discharge volumes
- Reuse and recycling volumes
- Replenishment volumes with the method used to count them
- Third party review of the claim where available
How Aqueduct helps
Every site's balance closes, so the portfolio number is a sum of measured books rather than estimates.
- A closed water balance per site through aQ WaterGuard
- Leak and burst detection that reduces consumption first
- Reuse tracking for treatment plants and recycled water systems
- Portfolio exports through aQ Assurance for the sustainability team