Walmart Inc.

Walmart Inc. is a global retailer headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company operates Walmart stores, Sam's Club, online shops, pharmacies, grocery services, and manages supply chains around the world. Because Walmart's business includes only stores, garden centers, farms, and suppliers, managing water use is a small part of its operations.

The company's strategy to conserve water focuses primarily on its retail operations, including employing no-rinse products, saving water in its pharmacies through QR codes, and investing in water-saving valves. For instance, Walmart reported that it had saved more than 65 million gallons of water globally by using no-rinse cleaners. The company also aims to save 134 million gallons of water in the United States by replacing paper-based prescription instructions with QR codes, thus reducing wood pulp and water usage. Furthermore, Walmart reported that fifty-one percent of its stores in Mexico and Central America had been equipped with water-saving valves by February 2025.

The company uses two strategies to reduce the usage of water outdoors, including harvesting rainwater and transforming landscapes using water-saving technologies. Some Walmart stores in the U.S. and its Home Office have been using rainwater collection systems to irrigate gardens and lawns. Additionally, Walmart has modified its method of using hard landscaping and artificial turf, thereby reducing the number of thirsty plants in its 1,100 stores and clubs nationwide.

Walmart's indirect water use and consumption are through its emphasis on encouraging its suppliers to invest in water management strategies such as ensuring safe drinking water, wastewater treatment, and stormwater management. The company has also been working with row-crop producers to improve their yield through better irrigation techniques and enhancing the moisture capacity of the soil. Similarly, Walmart reports that it has saved 2.8 billion gallons of water by buying cotton with lower freshwater usage, thus saving pesticide use and boosting farmer revenues.

However, the company's progress on water conservation is difficult to evaluate since it tracks and reports various water-saving initiatives while omitting the total water used, consumed, intensity, discharged, and risk levels. Although Walmart tracks water usage at its U.S. Walmart stores and Sam's Club, it does not show the figures for the rest of the globe. There is also no information on the number of suppliers that have implemented the water-saving strategies that Walmart Inc. requires them to adopt.