Page 25 - Food & Drink Magazine March 2021

A water risk assessment is a good place to start and the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) provides a useful framework. AWS is an international organisation focussed on sustainable water management.
The water stewardship approach methodology can be used to analyse business, water and climate change risk not just within individual operations but in the broader catchment
common framework to understand water risk across your company or supply chain.
AWS Certification enables you to make credible, independently verifiable sustainable water management claims via third-party certification.
It’s an easy way to show customers, employees, the community and investors that you not only take your sustainability obligations
and protect socially and culturally important water-related areas;
• credible demonstration sustainable water management;
• a common framework to understand water risk across the enterprise; and
• credible, independently verifiable sustainable water management claims via third-party certification. Undertaking a sustainable
water risk analysis will help identify solutions. It will give a good indication of how sustainable an operation currently is and what actions could be taken to improve water security, reduce costs and increase efficiency. Measures could include water reduction or efficiency programs, water treatment improvements and waterreusetechnologies.
BEYOND EFFICIENCY
Efficiency measures only go so far and because water quality is so important to food and beverage businesses advanced reuse technologies such as Advanced Water Treatment could be an option.
Food and beverage production is reliant on the availability of large volumes of
high-quality water and appropriate treatment and disposal systems, all of which can be location specific and impacted by climate change.
With the application of advanced water treatment plants (AWTP), Australian food businesses have the potential to: • reuse up to 90 per cent of
water, significantly reducing
water consumption;
• produce high quality potable
water for use in food
processing;
• demonstrate responsible use
and management of water; • continue to operate ‘as
normal’ during periods of
water restrictions; and
• decouple growth from water
availability thereby increasing resilience.
We should remember that
crisis represents both danger andopportunity. ✷
✷ ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
and even throughout your supplychain.
The Alliance has developed a robust framework that helps to deal with the complex challenges affecting water that can be used by businesses to assess their water risks.
A water stewardship approach uses an ISO consistent framework to help you to identify water risks not only within your site, but the whole catchment. It also provides a
seriously but that you are also addressingkeyissuesthathave the potential to significantly impact the long-term viability of your operations.
The benefits of using a water stewardship approach, whether you certify or not, include:
• identify water risks at a site,
business and catchment level; • increase water efficiency;
• strengthen stakeholder
relationships;
• improve local water quality
ENVIRONMENT MATTERS
“ Assessing the risks of climate change and water scarcity is essentially the same as analysing any other risk that might impact your business.”
Julia Seddon is director
of Cress Consulting.
The company specialises
in sustainable water
management, climate
and water risk
assessment, and options to increase business resilience.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | March 2021 | Food&Drink business | 25
Inflows to the Murray in the last 20 years are half that of the preceding century.