Appendix 5 – Emissions from water
In the GHG Protocol, water emissions are split between water supply (in Scope 3 category 1) and water treatment (in Scope 3 category 5).
Combining the emissions from water supply and treatment, total water emissions accounted for 0.063% of total Scope 3 emissions in 2019/20 and 0.058% of Ashfield District Council’s overall Scope 1-3 footprint.
In 2019/20, emissions from supply of water (8.96 tCO2e) account for 0.2% of emissions from purchased goods and services in 2019/20. Emissions from water treatment (12.06 tCO2e) account for 24.0% of emissions from waste generated in operations.
Since 2015/16, four ADC site groups have accounted for over 85% of all water emissions: Council Offices, Communal Courts, Allotments and Leisure36. These four site groups should be a focus for actions to reduce water consumption and waste water37. In 2019/20, the greatest proportions of water use come from Council Offices (39.3%), followed by Communal Courts (16.5%), Allotments (14.8%) and Leisure (14.2%).
In the graph below, historic billing and water leak issues may account for the large increase in water emissions from Council Offices in 2017/18, and the drop in emissions from Leisure sites in 2019/20.38
36 Does not include Leisure Centres as outside of ADC’s operational control
37 It is assumed that there is no waste water from allotments requiring treatment
38 Historic billing and water leak issues at Northern Depot (Council Offices site group); historic billing issues at Sutton Lawn Park (Leisure site group).