“Somewhere in the world, a river changes color with every new fashion trend.”
That’s how Drip By Drip framed the industry’s water problem in a new report, “The Drip: Voices on Water, Labor and Sustainability in the Fashion Industry,” released March 18.
For context, the Berlin-based nonprofit is the first non-governmental organization (NGO) focused exclusively on a water-just fashion system; since its founding in 2018, Drip By Drip has implemented 114 community water projects, reportedly impacting over 280,000 individuals across the Global South and providing 87,000 with access to clean water.
Comprising eight articles, “The Drip” advocated for one core, ideological shift—one moving from a technical, “efficiency-based” view of water to one that recognizes it as a structural issue of power and accountability. The 74-page publication wove together research, worker testimony and industry analysis—from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan—to argue that water risk in fashion’s supply chain is not being managed, but systematically pushed onto workers, communities and ecosystems.
“Water is fashion’s most significant environmental impact, yet it remains largely invisible in industry decision-making,” said Amira Jehia, Drip by Drip’s executive director. “‘The Drip’ shifts the perspective. It centers the people and places where fashion’s water footprint is felt most directly and challenges the systems that continue to externalize those costs.”
The report identified three “core failures” shaping that gap: a lack of community-owned data, a disconnect between brand sustainability pledges and purchasing practices, along with the “disproportionate burden” placed on women and frontline communities.
In practice, that misalignment is most evident at the factory level. Suppliers under pressure to comply with environmental standards are rarely compensated for the costs of compliance, the report reads. Operating wastewater treatment systems, for example, can markedly raise production costs, creating incentives to limit their use outside audit periods.
The human impact of these dynamics, though, was most acute among garment workers.
In Ashulia, Bangladesh, 60 percent of residents reported gastrointestinal symptoms due to contaminated water, according to an article by Shahriar Hossain. Elsewhere, water is used as a tool of exploitation; workers in Tamil Nadu are, according to authors Thivya Rakini and Oorja Engineer, repeatedly denied hydration breaks in order to meet production targets.
In Pakistan’s Faisalabad, environmental degradation intersected with labor precarity. According to the article by Humnah Fayyaz and Tabeer Riaz, mill workers face high dust exposure; surrounding communities rely on groundwater that frequently fails to meet safe drinking water standards due to industrial discharges.
At the environmental level, the report stressed the scale of pollution tied to textile processing. Wastewater from dyeing and finishing contains high levels of chemical contaminants, according to author Lavinia Muth, contributing to ecological collapse in waterways such as those surrounding Dhaka.
It also takes aim at commonly used sustainability metrics, arguing that Life Cycle Assessments regularly rely on global averages that obscure differences in water use and neglect to account for the broader environmental impacts of synthetic fibers.
More broadly, “The Drip” reframes water as a structural issue defined by pricing, governance and power.
“Instead of practicing water stewardship…many brands focus on carbon emissions and water-efficiency metrics. As a result, the impacts on people and ecosystems are ignored far too frequently,” the editors wrote. “This is what makes the publication timely. Water can no longer be treated as a side issue; it is a question of accountability.”
Earlier this year, the “Fashion. Water. Justice.” organization partnered with Eco Age, a sustainability consultancy firm, to tackle the ongoing water crisis caused by textile production. Drip By Drip brought on Eco Age to support its next phase, which included mobilizing engagement and “elevating water justice within the global fashion conversation” in January. The crux of their collaboration, per the partners, aligns with the international NGO’s goal of providing one million people with access to clean water.