Water Intensity Measurements for Chemical Companies

It seems to me the best sustainability measurement for chemical company water use is water intensity measurement.  This measurement is the annual amount of water a company has used divided by the metric tons of product produced for the year.  Such a measurement has value of comparability from company to company.  The higher the intensity, the more water a company uses to produce a ton of product  

Twelve chemical company 2018 sustainability reports were searched to find the companies water intensity measurements.  Those found are shown in this table:

company	water intensity measurement (cubic meters of water used divided metric tons of product produced)
air liquide	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
basf	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
borealis	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
clariant	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
dsm	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
evonik	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
huntsman	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
lanxess	39.3 cubic meters of water per ton of product produced
lyondellbasell	3.87 cubic meters of water per ton of product produced
mitsui	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report
ptt global chemicals	1.99 cubic meters of water per ton of product produced
solvay	measurement not provided and cannot be computed from data in the report

Unfortunately, as shown in the table, most companies do not report water intensity measurements. All the companies provide various measurements related to water use, such as fresh water withdrawn, reuse amounts, etc., but only the three companies shown in the table provide water intensity measurements.    Without water intensity measurements, a needed measurement on how well a company is doing in its water use is missing.  How well a company is using water in its operations compared to other companies is not possible without such a measurement as the water intensity measurement.  Just knowing amounts of water withdrawn and other water use data provided in sustainability reports does not offer needed relevancy about water use, e.g., how much product is produced for amount of water used.

As we move further into the climate change and resource limitations era, company sustainability goals and accomplishments are becoming essential for universal well-being.  And relevant measurements, which serve well to guide decision making towards the needed sustainability goals and accomplishments, are needed.  And these measurements need to be provided in company sustainability reports.    Unfortunately, at the current time, when it comes to water use, such a relevant measurement is not in common use.