The water indicator expresses the potential environmental impacts resulting from the use of fresh water and takes into account the water directly consumed and polluted in the vineyard and in the cellar for the production of wine. It can refer both to the company as a whole and to a single 0.75-liter bottle of wine.

The global calculation of the water footprint consists of two indicators:

Direct Water Scarcity Footprint: is a measurement of the potential water scarcity due to the direct consumption of volumes of fresh water, surface or underground, actually consumed in the field and in the cellar that does not return downstream of the production process in the same point of uptake or returns to it at different times;

Non-Comprehesive Direct Water Degradation Footprint: represents the volume of polluted water, quantified as the volume of water needed to dilute the pollutants so that the water quality remains above the defined quality standards (legal and/or ecotoxicological).

The use of the two indicators allows to investigate how viticulture affects the degradation of water resources both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view.

The main standard taken as a reference is UNI EN ISO 14046 and the impacts are assessed on the basis of the methodologies proposed by the WULCA (Working Group on Water Use LCA) and by the Water Footprint Network.