We’re being sold inequality by the gallon: understanding the UK’s hidden global water footprint

Do you know how much water it takes to produce our food, clothes and tech? Or who it’s taken from?

From the fresh fruit on our supermarket shelves to the clothes we wear and the mobile phones in our pockets, everything we buy depends on water. This “water footprint” – the water used to produce goods – is largely invisible to consumers. Yet it links everyday UK consumption to water stress and inequality around the world.

Nearly three-quarters of the UK’s water footprint lies beyond our borders. On average, this is equivalent to each UK household using around 77 bathtubs of other people’s water every day. That water is drawn from rivers and aquifers that communities and ecosystems also rely on – often in places already facing scarcity, pollution and climate pressure.

Our water footprints cut across environmental sustainability, development outcomes, economic stability and human rights.

When supply chains deepen water injustice

When water use is poorly governed or unfairly allocated, the impacts fall hardest on communities with the fewest resources. Over-abstraction and pollution can leave people without safe drinking water and sanitation, undermine livelihoods and damage ecosystems. Climate change is intensifying these pressures through more frequent droughts and floods.

High-value agriculture is one example. Peru’s Ica Valley supplies UK and European supermarkets with blueberries, grapes, avocados and asparagus all year round. Large-scale irrigation in this desert region has driven export growth but depleted groundwater to dangerous levels, threatening future production. At the same time, the rapid influx of workers combined with polluted and declining groundwater means tens of thousands of people do not have access to clean, safe water.

Mining also has major water impacts. The extraction of critical minerals – essential for technologies from smartphones to electric vehicles – can pollute waterways on an industrial scale. In Zambia last year, an acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine contaminated the Kafue River and forced a shutdown of the water supply to Kitwe, a city of around 700,000 people.

These are not isolated incidents. They expose systemic weaknesses in how global supply chains value and govern water.

From a hidden water footprint to a fair water footprint

Not all water use in global supply chains is bad, of course. Water-intensive sectors like agriculture, fashion and mining support jobs and economic development worldwide. The issue is not simply how much water is used, but whether its use is fair and sustainable.

A fair water footprint means ensuring that water users protect rivers and aquifers, prevent pollution, respect the rights to safe water and sanitation and support communities facing droughts and floods. It means those who profit most from water use in supply chains take responsibility for managing risk and sharing benefits.

Why we need better laws

Fair water footprints will not become the norm fast enough without clearer legal expectations on business.

Some companies are acting on water risk, but progress is patchy and mostly voluntary. Without common standards, responsible firms are undercut by competitors willing to externalise environmental and social costs, while affected communities have limited access to remedy.

The UK can help change this through stronger corporate accountability. A robust Business, Human Rights and Environment Act would require companies to identify, prevent and address human rights and environmental harms in their supply chains, including those linked to water use and access. That would level the playing field and make responsible water stewardship a baseline expectation.

Public demand must make fairness the norm

No one wants their weekly shop, new outfit or phone upgrade to contribute to someone else going without safe water. No one wants rising prices and supply shocks driven by water mismanagement.

But right now, too often, we are being sold inequality by the gallon. That’s why Water Witness has launched a new public campaign focused on the Good Business Matters Pledge, calling on decision makers to back a new Business, Human Rights and Environment Act.

And the stakes are rising. Recent UN analysis warns that parts of the global economy are heading towards “water bankruptcy”, where demand is outstripping reliable, safe supply. Governments increasingly recognise that water insecurity is not only a social and environmental threat, but a growing risk to economic and national security.

Fair water footprints are possible – through informed consumers, active civil society, responsible business and strong regulation.

Learn more and support the call for fair water footprints at waterwitness.org/act-now.