Measuring and Reducing Water Footprint in Textile Processing: REWAFT Tool

What Is It & Why It Matters

As part of the Erasmus+ REWAFT project (“Helping the textile industry reduce its water footprint”), this online tool empowers textile companies and universities to quantify their blue and grey water footprints through a step-by-step process. Developed in collaboration with the Water Footprint Network, it supports measurement and action planning toward more sustainable water use.

REWAFT, funded under Erasmus+, aims to raise awareness and build capacity regarding water consumption and water-related pollution in the textile sector. A central result is a user-friendly Water Footprint of Textiles Tool: an online calculator helping processors, such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing, and garment facilities, estimate their blue water use (actual fresh water consumption) and grey water footprint (volume needed to dilute pollutants) based on fiber type and processing stages

Users input annual throughput (in kg/year) for cellulosic, protein-based, and synthetic fibers, select relevant processing steps (e.g. desizing, scouring, bleaching, dyeing, printing, finishing), and enter water use and/or consumption data along with pollutant concentrations (if available). The tool then computes water footprint indicators and guides companies toward potential savings and pollution control measures.

Why Use This Tool?

• Hands-on transparency of water use and pollution metrics
• Supports regulatory readiness (e.g. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive or EU water reporting frameworks)
• Actionable insights to reduce water consumption and effluent impact

Sources

REWAFT Project. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2025, from https://textilewaterfootprint.eu/

The water footprint of textiles processing | waterfootprintcalculator. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2025, from https://calculator.textilewaterfootprint.eu/

Sofia Plakantonaki / VERDEinMED