Klebsiella pneumoniae is a pathogenic bacterium capable of causing disease in the healthcare setting and increasingly, in the community. While research often focuses on K. pneumoniae pathogenicity in the host environment, open questions remain in regard to how K. pneumoniae survives on a wide range of biotic and abiotic surfaces. Understanding how populations of K. pneumoniae survive in environments such as water sources and hospital surfaces is important, as these environments may facilitate the horizontal gene transfer of pathogenicity determinants and play a role in the transmission of disease. Here, we aimed to explore survival mechanisms of K. pneumoniae outside the host. To identify genes that promote environmental survival we performed RNA sequencing and transposon directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS) of Klebsiella pneumoniae in an experimental creek water microcosm. Interestingly, TraDIS data showed that capsule genes are required for survival in this environment. Further work explored the role of the capsule in survival in other non-host niches including dried surface attached communities, finding that capsulated K. pneumoniae strains have an increased susceptibility to UV killing. In summary, our data suggests a complex and environment specific role for the capsule outside the host and raises the possibility that non-host growth can potentiate populations of K. pneumoniae towards increased pathogenicity.