Best water management system for commercial real estate
Milvian AI teamFacilities and infrastructure intelligence
Choose a system that meters towers, restrooms and tenant fit-outs in every building and closes a water balance. Leaks then show by line and hour, and tenants pay for what they use.
How offices and mixed-use buildings use water
EPA WaterSense estimates offices account for about 9 percent of US commercial and institutional water use and hotels about 15 percent. In offices the big lines are restrooms, kitchens and pantries, and the cooling tower that serves the chiller plant. Kitchens alone can take 10 to 15 percent of an office's water.
Leaks can account for more than 6 percent of a facility's water use, according to EPA. In a multi-tenant building nobody owns that loss: the landlord sees one bill, and tenants see a service charge.
What the system must do
| Requirement | Why it matters here | Ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Meter towers separately. | Tower make-up often drives the summer bill. | Do you report make-up, blowdown and cycles? |
| Meter tenant fit-outs. | Restaurants and gyms use far more than their floor area suggests. | Can you bill tenants from their own meters? |
| Find overnight flow. | An office should be close to zero at 3 a.m. | Do you alert when night flow stays above a floor? |
| Compare buildings per square foot. | Asset managers need a fair ranking. | Can you report gallons per square foot per day? |
Pressure from prices and disclosure
US household water and sewer bills rose 5.1 percent in 2025 and 24.2 percent over five years across 50 cities, and commercial tariffs track the same utility costs. Investors ask for water data as well: the revised ESRS E3 requires consumption and withdrawal by site.
How to evaluate one
- Rank buildings by billStart with the three highest water costs per square foot.
- Meter the tower and tenantsThose lines usually explain most of the variance.
- Close the balanceSupply minus metered use is the loss to chase.
- Move recovery to metersBill the heaviest tenant users from data at the next reconciliation.
Where Aqueduct fits
aQ WaterGuard sub-meters each building and draws its water system as a live twin, with supply balanced against floors, the tower and unaccounted loss. The portfolio view ranks buildings by water use intensity, and Billing Management bills tenants from dedicated or shared meters. Expected use is modeled from past bills and weather, so tower savings show in money.
Sources
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| US EPA WaterSense, Types of Facilities | epa.gov |
| US EPA WaterSense, Best Management Practices | epa.gov |
| US EPA WaterSense, Getting Started | epa.gov |
| Bluefield Research via Water Online, 2026 | wateronline.com |
| EFRAG, ESRS E3 delegated act | knowledgehub.efrag.org |
