Compare your water use
Benchmarking can help you to compare your water use to other businesses in the same industry. Every business type has a benchmark measurement for efficient water use. This measurement tells us how much water an efficient business uses for specific water related activities in their day to day operations.
Benchmarking helps to:
- Measure your performance over time
- Compare your performance against other similar businesses
- Identify efficiency improvements
- Establish realistic reduction targets
To work out your benchmark:
- Work out your water use (kilolitres per year)
- Identify your business activity measure
- Divide the kilolitres of water you use by your business activity measure
This equation is your benchmark when comparing your water use.
Business activity measures
Every business type has its own activity measure based on how it uses water. This is used to determine your water use benchmark. You can find your business activity measure below.
| Business/ Industry Type | Business Activity Measure | Benchmark Indicator |
|---|---|---|
| Aged Care | Resident per day | kL/resident per day |
| Aquatic Centre | Bather numbers | kL/bather kL/patron |
| Caravan Park | Occupancy Site numbers |
kL/occupant/year kL/occupant/night |
| Hospital | Patient bed days | kL/patient bed day |
| Hotel / Motel | Guest night Occupancy numbers |
kL/guest night kL/occupied room |
| Manufacturing | Product produced or processed | kL/product produced kL/product processed |
| Mining | Mining production figures | kL/tonne product produced |
| Office | Nett Lettable Area | kL/m2 NLA |
| Prison | Inmates and employees | kL/inmate and employee |
| Retail Centre | Patrons Gross Lettable Area |
kL/patron kL/m2 GLA |
| TAFE/ University | Full-time equivalent students and staff | kL/student and staff |
| Turf Irrigation | Water use per year | kL/hectare |
| Wastewater Operations | Amount of scheme water used to treat a megalitre of treated wastewater | kL/megalitre treated wastewater |
| Wharf/ Port | Vessels Tonnes shipped |
kL/vessel kL/tonne shipped |
Water efficiency benchmarks
Compare your water use to the benchmarks below to find out how you compare to your industry.
The water efficiency performance indicator for aquatic centres is litres per bather or litres per patron. Sydney Water has developed the following benchmarks for aquatic centres:
| Rating | Benchmark litres per bather | Benchmark litres per patron |
|---|---|---|
| Best practice | <20 | <10 |
| Efficient | 20 to 40 | 10 to 25 |
| Far | 40 to 60 | 25 to 40 |
| Inefficient | >60 | >40 |
The water efficiency performance indicator for residential aged care facilities is litres per resident per day. We developed the following benchmarks using data from local aged care facilities.
| Category | Benchmark (litres/resident/day |
|---|---|
| Best practice | 130 or less |
| Typical | 130 - 300 |
| High | Greater than 300 |
The water efficiency performance indicator for hotels is litres per occupied room night (L/occupied room night) and litres per guest night (L/guest night). We developed the following benchmarks using data from local hotels.
| Category | Benchmark (L/occupied room night) |
Benchmark (L/guest night) |
|---|---|---|
| Average water use performance | 375 | 281 |
| Best practice water cooled hotel | 206 | 159 |
| Best practice air cooled hotel | 246 | 173 |
The water efficiency performance indicator for commercial office buildings is kilolitres per nett lettable area per annum (kL/m2NLA/annum). We developed the following benchmarks using data from office buildings in Perth.
| Category | Water cooled buildings Benchmark (kL/m2NLA) |
Air cooled buildings Benchmark (kL/m2NLA) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical - building that hasn't implemented major water efficiency measures or doesn't have major leaks | 0.75-0.86 | 0.61-0.75 |
| Mid-range - building with a water management plan & proactive about water efficiency measures | 0.61-0.75 | 0.48-0.61 |
| Very well managed - building with proactive management & good design | 0.48-0.61 | 0.35-0.48 |
| Best practice -building with proactive water management & best practice design | 0.35-0.48 | <0.35 |
The water efficiency performance indicator for retail centres is kilolitres per gross lettable area per year (k/m2GLA/annum). We developed the following benchmarks using data from local retail centres.
| Category | Benchmark (kL/m2GLA) |
|---|---|
| Poor | >1.56 |
| Below average | 1.16-1.56 |
| Average | 0.96-1.16 |
| Above average | 0.76-0.96 |
| Best practice | <0.56 |
The water efficiency performance indicator for turf irrigation is kilolitres per hectare. Sydney Water has developed the following benchmarks for turf irrigation.
| Rating | Best practice benchmark |
|---|---|
| Elite | 4000 to 9000 kilolitres per hectare per year |
| Regional | 2500 to 5000 kilolitres per hectare per year |
| Local | 1500 to 3500 kilolitres per hectare per year |
| Passive | 0 to 2500 kilolitres per hectare per year |