Alliance for Water Stewardship · International Water Stewardship Standard
AWS water stewardship certification for sites that take their catchment seriously.
The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) owns the International Water Stewardship Standard and its certification system, and Sterling's expert and experienced consultants prepare your site for the independent audit.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software and Sterling Academy access in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced environmental consultants, working across sectors and countries since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an independent certification body audits and decides
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
Client experience across standards
What it is
What is the AWS Standard?
The AWS International Water Stewardship Standard is a framework for sites that use water to understand their catchment, act on shared water challenges and report on what they do. It is owned by the Alliance for Water Stewardship, which also runs the certification system and publishes guidance for users of the standard.
The standard is written for a site rather than a whole company. That makes it practical for manufacturing plants, farms, mines and data centres whose water risks depend on local conditions.
Current version. Version 2.0 of the AWS Standard is dated 22 March 2019. AWS has since run a major revision and unveiled version 3.0; confirm with AWS or your certification body which version your audit will use and when the change applies.
Who it is for
Who asks for AWS certification?
Sites usually come to AWS for one of four reasons:
- Brand and buyer programmes. Companies with water targets ask key supplier sites for credible stewardship.
- Water-stressed locations. Sites that share a stressed catchment need a licence to operate from their neighbours.
- Investor and ESG disclosure. Certified sites give water disclosures a verified basis.
- Corporate water strategy. Groups use site certification to show progress against their own commitments.
Agree which sites and which version of the standard before the work starts.
Requirements
What does the AWS Standard require in practice?
AWS publishes the standard and its guidance, and their structure is not reproduced here. The list below is what Sterling's work covers.
- Site and catchment context: the data a site needs about its water use and its shared catchment
- Stakeholder engagement: who shares the catchment, what they said and what the site did in response
- Water stewardship plan: targets, actions and owners, agreed by site leadership
- Implementation records: evidence that planned actions happened and what they achieved
- Disclosure and review: reporting the site's stewardship and reviewing the plan
What does useful AWS evidence look like?
Metered water data, discharge and quality results, a catchment study, stakeholder meeting records, a signed stewardship plan, action records and published disclosures. We keep them in Effivity from the first workshop, so the auditor sees a plan that is running.
Your engagement
What your AWS Standard engagement includes
Water stewardship reaches outside the fence, so it needs time with neighbours and authorities as well as internal work. Sterling runs the programme and keeps the evidence together, with one accountable team.
Scope and gap review
Sites and version of the standard agreed, with a clear gap list and owners.
Catchment and site assessment
Data gathered and organised into the picture the standard requires.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Data, actions and records in one workspace, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for your people
Preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Stewardship plan and engagement
The plan drafted with site leadership and stakeholder engagement recorded.
Certification readiness
Preparation for the certification audit and support until it is closed.
Sterling does not certify. An independent certification body under the AWS system audits the site and makes the certification decision.
Often combined with
Standards organisations pair with AWS Standard
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- IEC 61511IEC 61511 compliance for process plants: the safety instrumented system lifecycle, functional safety management and the evidence your assessors expect.
- IEC 62443IEC 62443 certification consulting for industrial automation and control systems: zones, conduits and security levels for owners, integrators and suppliers.
- ISO 19443ISO 19443 certification support for nuclear supply chain quality: gap assessment, ISO 9001 based QMS, ITNS controls and audit readiness.
Effivity · ISO and GRC software, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you run, automate and simplify your AWS Standard work.
Every Sterling AWS Standard engagement includes Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures the workspace within the agreed scope, so documents, risks, audits, nonconformities, training records, supplier and contractor checks and management review live in one place, the system runs in daily work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Context, scope and interested parties
The scope, the issues that matter and the interested parties behind your AWS Standard work sit in one register and are reviewed on a schedule, so the context stays current instead of being rewritten before each review.
Policy, roles and objectives
Commitments, responsibilities and objectives with their measures, owners and dates live where the people who own them work; progress is reported from the system, not from a separate spreadsheet.
Risks and opportunities
A risk and opportunity register with owners, actions and review dates; treatments tracked to closure and brought to management review automatically.
Competence, awareness and documented information
Training and competence records for every person, linked to Sterling Academy; documents with versions, approvals and distribution, so the current version is the only one in use.
Operational controls, suppliers and contractors
The controls your AWS Standard work depends on, with supplier and contractor checks, inspections and maintenance, each with its record created as the work is done.
Monitoring, internal audit and management review
Audit programmes, findings and follow-up; indicators on live dashboards; a management review that records its inputs, decisions and actions.
Nonconformity and corrective action
Raised, investigated and closed with root cause and the evidence that the action worked; recurring issues visible to management before they become a finding.
Your own processes, forms and reports
Forms, fields, workflows and reports adapted to how you work, without code; legal and customer requirements tracked to the processes they affect.
What this means at the audit
When the auditor asks for water data, the stakeholder log, the stewardship plan or proof an action was taken, each is a record in Effivity with a date, an owner and the evidence attached, and Sustain™ keeps it current afterwards.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Configured by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Your documents, records and registers migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training for your team
- Modules for QMS, EMS, OHSMS, ISMS and more when you integrate other standards
Sterling Academy · e-learning for your people
Build water stewardship awareness across your site, not just the environment team.
Sterling Academy delivers e-learning for the whole workforce and for the people who run the system: video lessons with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential Sterling Academy course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- Awareness training for every employee, with the evidence of competence your AWS Standard work needs
- Practitioner courses for the people who own processes and records
- Internal auditor training for the people who will audit the system, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Learner progress by department and a training status report ready for the certification auditor
- New hires trained as they arrive, so evidence stays current
- A Sterling consultant reachable when a learner needs one
Keep exploring
Explore more about AWS Standard
AWS Standard resources
Services for AWS Standard
Why Sterling
Want successful AWS certification? Come to Sterling.
Water stewardship joins site operations, community relations and corporate reporting. We give that work one plan and one evidence base, and connect it to ISO 14001 where you already hold it.
60+ countries since 2003
Management systems implemented for manufacturers, contractors, service firms and public bodies across every region we serve, with one engagement team accountable across every country you operate in.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with certification-body fees identified separately. No surprises, ever.
A system your people can use
Less documentation and maximum effectiveness: documents, training and software connected to day-to-day operations, so your people adopt the system rather than tolerate it.
Expert and experienced consultants
Expert and experienced consultants who have advised on management systems across sectors and countries since 2003, and who build your AWS Standard work properly the first time.
The Sterling Promise
What our AWS Standard success guarantee means
We stay with you until your agreed AWS Standard outcome is achieved, supporting implementation, preparation and the resolution of findings. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning turn the investment into lasting capability rather than a certificate on a wall.
The engagement identifies the standard, sites, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information and puts the agreed actions into use. The independent certification body assesses conformity and retains its certification decision. Our commitment concerns the agreed certification support, not a promise of future buyer decisions.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about AWS Standard
Who certifies sites to the AWS Standard?
An independent certification body working under the AWS certification system audits the site and decides. Sterling prepares the site and does not certify; check the body's status with AWS before you sign.
Does AWS certification replace ISO 14001?
No, they do different jobs. ISO 14001 manages a site's environmental aspects as a whole, while the AWS Standard focuses on water and the shared catchment; many sites use their ISO 14001 system to run the AWS evidence.
Should we wait for AWS Standard version 3.0?
Not necessarily. Confirm with AWS or your certification body which version applies to your audit date, then prepare to that version; most of the site data and stakeholder work carries across.
Keep exploring
More on AWS Standard and related standards
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Talk to a consultant
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