Water is used in most parts of a steel plant. A steel plant cannot operate without water. Therefore, steel plants are typically built near abundant sources of fresh water to ensure the availability and quality of the water they require. However, today, special attention has been paid to the management of water resources available in the steel plant environment, especially in terms of its quality, quantity and how it is used.

Both iron and steel have played an important role in the development of human civilization over several thousand years, and have been used in agriculture, construction, power generation and distribution, the manufacture of machinery and equipment, in the home, and in medicine. Along with coal and cotton, iron and steel were the raw materials on which the Industrial Revolution began. Technological developments from the early 18th century onwards led to significant increases in production, for example, by replacing charcoal with coal and coke and by developing the pudding process to convert hot metal into steel.

The steel industry uses large amounts of water. However, very little is consumed, as most of the water is reused or returned to the source. Water is used not only in cooling operations, but also in other processes such as scale removal and dust cleaning.