Guidelines for optimal industrial water use to follow draft policy approval
Water serves as both a vital input for production and a key environmental limitation; its scarcity can directly restrict the scale of industrial development and reduce competitiveness.
The Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) maintains and updates the National Water Resources Database (NWRD), integrating numerous data layers (eg, groundwater, surface water, socioeconomic data) from various agencies and adding value in standardised formats for planning and analysis. This is one of the core tools for addressing data fragmentation and improving the knowledge base.
As the highest planning authority, WARPO is tasked with integrated water resources planning under the National Water Policy, maintaining the NWRD, and informing policy decisions, including reporting on water availability and demand trends across sectors. In order to manage the incremental demand of water in the industrial sector, ensure judicious allocation of water resources for industry, ensure continued progress towards fulfilling the national goals of economic development through water secure industrialization, poverty alleviation, water and food security, decent standard of living and protection of natural environment, the policy is formulated.
The integration of water availability and hydrological limits into decisions on industrial zoning, Export Processing Zones (EPZs), and economic corridors is recognised as important in policy, planning, strategy and research but in practice, implementation is often partial or uneven.
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Water serves as both a vital input for production and a key environmental limitation; its scarcity can directly restrict the scale of industrial development and reduce competitiveness. In certain situations, the lack of freshwater dictates which types of industries can operate, or whether industrial expansion is possible at all. Resource availability, particularly water, is regularly factored into site selection decisions for industrial parks by investors and planners.
Currently, industrial sectors of Bangladesh account for approximately 2-3% of the country's total water withdrawal. While this represents a small portion compared to agriculture, it is expected to be the fastest-growing segment of water demand over the next decade. Approximately 98% of industrial water is currently abstracted from groundwater. Long-term projections show that this share of industrial water use is expected to grow rapidly as the economy expands, particularly with the growth of water-intensive sectors like garments, textiles, leather, and pharmaceuticals.
The major data gaps in industrial groundwater abstractions are: Lack of Reliable Data on Industrial Groundwater Use; Unregistered & Unmetered Abstraction; Limited Enforcement & Institutional Capacity; Fragmented Data Collection; and Groundwater Monitoring Infrastructure is Sparse.
Data on groundwater levels and quality are inconsistent, and many regions lack adequate monitoring wells and network coverage, making it difficult to accurately assess the impacts of extraction especially in industrial hubs.
The WARPO is the national agency mandated to prepare water resource plans, update water resource assessments, and guide sustainable use of water (including groundwater) across Bangladesh. National Water Policy, National Water Management Plan (NWMP), Bangladesh Water Act 2013, Bangladesh Water Rules 2018 and proposed Industrial Water Management Policy 2025 guide the sustainability issues of groundwater management for Industries.
Water serves as both a vital input for production and a key environmental limitation; its scarcity can directly restrict the scale of industrial development and reduce competitiveness.
The primary objective of the project is to determine the availability, quality, and safe extraction limits of both groundwater and surface water resources in 10 districts of the north-central hydrological region of Bangladesh. This is to enable effective implementation of the Bangladesh Water Act, 2013 and the Bangladesh Water Rules, 2018. The project focuses on key considerations, including industrial zones in the area, declining trends in groundwater aquifers, high population pressure, economic zones, surface water pollution, and urbanisation trends.
The National Water Policy sets out a priority order for water allocation in scarcity or drought situations. According to the policy: domestic and municipal uses have the highest priority; non-consumptive uses (e.g., navigation, fisheries, wildlife); sustenance of river regimes; followed by other consumptive and non-consumptive uses like irrigation, industry, environment, salinity management, and recreation.
This order may be adjusted by local bodies based on specific socio-economic conditions through local consensus. On the other hand, this priority has been revised specially for water stress areas in the Bangladesh Water Act, 2013, where drinking water is the highest priority, followed by domestic and so on, as described in the Act. Here, there is also a provision to change the order by ECNWRC with a gazette notification, considering the socio-economic conditions through people's consensus.
The WARPO has already developed the Draft Industrial Water Management Policy, where industrial water recycling and reuse for reducing freshwater demand are well addressed. In addition, in May 2025, the Government of Bangladesh, WARPO, and the World Bank's 2030 Water Resources Group launched the National Alliance for Water Reuse and Recycling. This alliance is a major policy and implementation platform aimed at scaling up water reuse practices in industry, particularly the ready-made garment (RMG) sector to reduce freshwater withdrawal and industrial pollution.
A high-profile demonstration plant in Narayanganj supported by the WARPO as part of this alliance is expected to reuse 4,38,000 cubic meters of water annually and cut freshwater use by about 30% in that facility.
One question keeps coming up: Will the government impose a tariff on excessive water use?
A draft policy document is under approval process. After approval of the document, different guidelines in this respect will be developed for optimal water use in the industrial sector.
The WARPO is the apex water planning body under the Ministry of Water Resources. It is legally mandated to develop national water strategies and plans, and maintain the National Water Resources. Database, and serve as the secretariat to the Executive Committee of the National Water Resources Council (ECNWRC). It also acts as a clearinghouse for water-related projects and ensures they conform to the National Water Management Plan (NWMP).
WARPO provides technical review and No Objection Certificate (NOC) for water use proposals, including industrial projects, to ensure they are consistent with national objectives according to the Bangladesh Water Act, 2013 and the Bangladesh Water Rule, 2018.
TBS staff correspondent Jahidul Islam prepared the article based on questionnaire sent to the author.
Mohammad Lutfur Rahman is the director general (additional charge) of Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO).
