25 AUGUST 2026 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Sustainability Guide Number Four: Water Use Adapted from Information by Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) DFI’s Sustainability Committee continues working with the European Federation of Foundation Contractors’ (EFFC) Sustainability Working Group to develop a series of guides addressing the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) most relevant to the geotechnical industry. There are currently four sustainability guides: & The first guide in the series, EFFC/DFI Sustainability Guide No. 1: Carbon Reduction, addresses SDGs 13 (Climate Action) and 7 (Renewable and Clean Energy). & The second guide in the series, EFFC/DFI Sustainability Guide No. 2: Circular Economy, focuses on SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). & The third guide, EFFC/DFI Sustainability Guide No. 3: Climate Adaptation & Resilience, addresses SDGs 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action). & The latest guide, EFFC/DFI Sustainability Guide No. 4: Water Use, provides a structured, practice-oriented framework to help geotechnical contractors, designers, and project stakeholders to reduce water consumption and manage water-related impacts in alignment with SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). “Climate adaptation and resilience are challenging topics, but a changing climate requires us to move beyond traditional approaches and embed resilience into both our projects and our organizations,” said Kimberly Martin, Ph.D., P.E., ENV SP (Envision Sustainability Professional), Keller North America, and Cochair of the EFFC/DFI Sustainability Guides Task Group. “This guide is an important resource to help our industry learn and navigate the changes we need to make. I want to recognize Marla Gillow of Transport for London for leading the team behind this valuable guide and thank DFI and EFFC for their continued support of this work.” Recognizing freshwater scarcity, climate-driven hydrological stress, and increasing regulatory and client expectations, the guide addresses these across the geotechnical project life cycle. Using a what-why-how-measure methodology, the guide characterizes how ground engineering activities interact with surface water, groundwater, and supply chains. It highlights the variability of water demand across geotechnical solutions and emphasizes the importance of reducing the use of water through design choices such as nature-based solutions. The guides are not minimum requirements or sector standards, but rather practical support guides sharing good practice. The guides are free and can be downloaded from the DFI Publications Store. WTR C&G Booth 501 Occupation? Overheard at an elementary school function: “Has your son said what he wants to be when he grows up?” “Yeah, he wants to be a garbage man,” the other replied. “Well, that’s an unusual ambition to have at such a young age.” “Not really. He thinks garbage men only work on Wednesdays.”
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