Pressure on Water Resources Is Growing

The world is sweltering. Asia, Europe, Canada, South Asia and the United States all suffered from unimaginable heat and its dramatic consequences in 2026. Excess mortality rose significantly worldwide during the hottest months. Devastating wildfires destroyed vast areas. A lack of rainfall led to crop failures and further worsened the already poor drinking water supply in parts of the world. Major rivers dwindled to trickles, bringing inland shipping to a virtual standstill and forcing nuclear power plants offline because cooling water was unavailable. The devastating environmental and social impacts are compounded by severe economic losses: the World Bank has found that, by 2050, the lack of water management strategies could lead to annual losses of between 2 and 6% of gross domestic product, depending on the region.

Water scarcity will primarily affect industries that depend on this resource, including the textile and textile care industries. If the tap is turned off for growing cotton and finishing fabrics, the supply of workwear, hotel textiles and similar items to textile rental and leasing laundries will be at risk. The core business itself could also dry up, as it relies on this natural resource. The textile care industry must therefore succeed in reducing its water consumption.

To counter a looming decline in water reserves and rising water supply and wastewater disposal costs, China’s Five-Year Plans have included measures to promote more efficient water use since 2011. The Three Red Lines policy, introduced in 2022, is stricter: it limits total national water withdrawals, sets sectoral water-use intensity limits and requires annual efficiency improvements. Europe has not gone as far; its Water Resilience Strategy was only adopted in mid-2025.

The consequences of unchecked water consumption have already prompted textile care companies, their trade associations and suppliers to take action. In a case of rethinking water in laundries instead of discharging it, a laundry in the Baltic states has saved significant resources and operating costs and reduced its wastewater load by upgrading its wastewater treatment plant. This was achieved by installing microfilters and membrane filters, heat exchangers and evaporation systems with mechanical vapour recompression.

Saving water during washing does not always require the latest technology. Here are some measures that can help reduce the water footprint of a commercial laundry:

• Check supply lines: Undetected leaks in water pipes, whether carrying fresh or process water, can significantly increase costs. Installing water meters before each point of use makes actual consumption across the plant visible. Data collected at the machines can also be compared with industry benchmarks and used to reconcile the volume supplied by the water utility with the volume used on site.
• Sort laundry properly and select suitable wash programmes: Using the same washing process for every type of soiled laundry is inefficient. Processes should be matched to the type and degree of soiling as well as the textile. Ideally, a laundry’s standard programmes should be clearly displayed on the machines to make it easier to select the right one. Pictograms on the control panel make this simpler still.
• Monitor rewash volumes: Rewashing doubles water consumption per kilogram of laundry because it requires an additional wash cycle. Regularly monitoring rewash volumes and comparing them with industry benchmarks can reveal potential resource waste, for example due to inadequate sorting, insufficient washing processes or technical faults in the machines.
• Reuse water within the washing process: Tunnel washers have long reused rinse and press water in the pre-wash and wash stages. Additional savings are possible by filtering process water and storing it in tanks. For example, lightly soiled water from the main rinse can be reused to wash heavily soiled textiles, provided this does not cause adverse chemical effects.
• Install water recycling systems: Recovering and reusing water requires investment, but it can be worthwhile. Reusable wash liquor is pumped through pipework and heat exchangers, filtered and stored in tanks before being returned to the washing machines. The water system requires careful planning, taking into account the temperature of the wash liquor, the chemicals it contains and the level of residual soiling. Recycled water is generally used according to the principle of “clean to dirty”, following the approach used in tunnel washers. Separate tanks are required for finishing liquors.
• Use ozone washing processes: Ozone reactors use UV-C light to multiply the hydrogen peroxide content in the main wash liquor of a continuous batch washer. This reduces the amount of disinfecting wash chemicals required, so less chemistry is carried into the following rinse chamber with the textiles. This can shorten rinse cycles. At Ruess in Wolfsburg, for example, the technology saves an average of nearly 1 l of water per kilogram of laundry.
• Work without water: Water-free alternatives include processing textiles in liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide, as well as using machines that work with nylon beads.
• Carry out regular maintenance: Regular maintenance keeps laundry machines working efficiently and prevents unintended water loss, for example through leaks in pipes.
• Train staff: Inadequately trained staff can operate machines incorrectly, for example by overdosing powdered detergent or selecting the wrong wash programme. This can lead to rewashing, unnecessary resource consumption and problems with water recycling. Staff training can help address these issues. National trade associations may also be able to help if they offer training and professional development.
• Invest in modern, efficient washing technology: Top-loaders are still used for commercial laundry in some countries, even though they use far more water and energy. Investing in modern front-load washer-extractors can reduce consumption by up to 50%. Further savings are possible with machines fitted with weighing systems that measure the weight of each load and automatically adjust water and chemical dosing to the load size. High spin speeds in the final extraction stage also remove more water, allowing more rinse water to be recovered.
• Build cisterns: Collecting, treating and using rainwater in suitably sized storage tanks could become an effective way to alleviate water scarcity, at least seasonally.

There is no doubt that falling groundwater levels, increasing pressure from water authorities and rising water supply and wastewater disposal costs are accelerating the introduction of recycling systems in the textile care industry. These can recover up to 85% of wastewater and, after treatment, return it to the washing process. This not only helps conserve vital drinking water reserves. According to the Laundry Water Recycling System Market Research Report 2034, water-related operating costs can also fall significantly – by as much as 50%.