Water footprint

Water footprint
The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. Water use is measured in water volume consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any well-defined group of consumers (e.g. an individual, family, village, city, province, state or nation) or producers (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geographically explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water use and pollution, but also the locations.[1] . However, the water footprint does not provide information on how the embedded water negatively or positively affects local water resources, ecosystems and livelihoods.

History
The water footprint concept was introduced in 2002 by A.Y. Hoekstra from UNESCO-IHE as an alternative indicator of water use.[2] . The concept was refined and accounting methods were established with a series of publications from two lead authors A.K. Chapagain and A.Y. Hoekstra from the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, now at WWF-UK and University of Twente respectively. The most elaborate publications on how to estimate water footprints are a 2004-report on the 'Water footprint of nations' from UNESCO-IHE [3] and the 2008-book Globalization of Water by A.Y. Hoekstra and A.K. Chapagain, published by Blackwell, 2008. Cooperation between global leading institutions in the field has led to the establishment of the Water Footprint Network in 2008 that aims to coordinate efforts to further develop and disseminate knowledge on water footprint concepts, methods and tools.

Blue, green and grey water footprint

A water footprint consists of three components: the blue, green and grey water footprint. The blue water footprint is the volume of freshwater that evaporated from the global blue water resources (surface water and ground water) to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community. The green water footprint is the volume of water evaporated from the global green water resources (rainwater stored in the soil as soil moisture). The grey water footprint is the volume of polluted water that associates with the production of all goods and services for the individual or community. The latter can be estimated as the volume of water that is required to dilute pollutants to such an extent that the quality of the water remains at or above agreed water quality standards.

Water footprint of individual consumers

The water footprint of an individual consumer refers to the sum of direct and indirect freshwater use by the consumer. The direct water use is the water used at home. The indirect water use relates to the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the consumer. The global average Water Footprint is 1240 m water/person/year. The Chinese average is 700 m water/person/year one of the smallest in the world and the United States's 2480 m water/person/year is the largest in the world.[4] which is published in a concise form in a journal [5] The Finnish average Water Footprint is 1730 m water/person/year.[6] . The water footprint of the UK is 1695 m water/person/year.[7]

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Water footprint of businesses

The water footprint of a business, the 'corporate water footprint', is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used directly or indirectly to run and support a business. It is the total volume of water use to be associated with the use of the business outputs. The water footprint of a business consists of two components: the direct water use by the producer (for producing/manufacturing or for supporting activities) and the indirect water use (in the producers supply chain).

Water footprints of nations

The water footprint of a nation shows the water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation. It includes two components: the internal and the external water footprint. The first component refers to the appropriation of domestic water resources; the latter to the appropriation of water resources in other countries. About 65% of Japan's total water footprint comes from outside the country; about 7% of the Chinese water footprint falls outside China.[8]

Water footprint calculation standard

Since 2009 there is a global calculation standard for the water footprint[9] , maintained by the Water Footprint Network, an international network of governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations and UN bodies.

Criticism of the water footprint concept

Due to the recent spread of the water footprint as an indicator of water use, application and interpretation of the results may sometimes be performed to promote industrial activities that lead to facile criticism of certain products without discussing the results in further detail. The 140 litres required for coffee production for one cup [10] might be of no harm to water resources as its cultivation occurs mainly in humid areas but could be damaging in more arid areas. Nevertheless, the resulting figures suggest the sum of water quantities as an environmental concern. This concern that may not always be justified given a region's specific set of factors, such as hydrology, climate, geology, topography, and so forth. Moreover, halting the production of coffee in that region may have a detrimental affect on incomes and livelihoods. According to water economics expert Dennis Wichelns from the International Water Management Institute: Although one goal of virtual water analysis is to describe opportunities for improving water security, there is almost no mention of the potential impacts of the prescriptions arising from that analysis on farm households in industrialized or developing countries. It is essential to consider more carefully the inherent flaws in the virtual water and water footprint perspectives, particularly when seeking guidance regarding policy decisions.[11] Recently, the concept has been criticized for the term "footprint," which can confuse people familiar with the notion of a carbon footprint since the water footprint concept, as described above, includes sums of water quantities without necessarily evaluating related impacts. This is in contrast to the carbon footprint, where carbon emissions are not simply summarized but normalized by CO2 emissions, which are globally identical, to account for the environmental harm. The difference is due to the somewhat more complex nature of water; while involved in the global hydrological cycle, it is expressed in conditions both local and regional through various forms like river basins, watersheds, on down to groundwater (as part of larger aquifer systems).

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References
[1] Definition taken from the Hoekstra, A.Y. and Chapagain, A.K. (2008) Globalization of water: Sharing the planet's freshwater resources, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK. (http:/ / www. blackwellpublishing. com/ book. asp?ref=9781405163354& site=1) [2] Hoekstra, A.Y. (2003) (ed) Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, IHE Delft, the Netherlands (http:/ / www. waterfootprint. org/ Reports/ Report12. pdf) [3] (http:/ / www. waterfootprint. org/ Reports/ Report16Vol1. pdf) [4] Water footprints of all nations for the period 1997 - 2001 have been first reported Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y.. "Water footprints of nations" (http:/ / www. waterfootprint. org/ Reports/ Report16Vol1. pdf/ ) ( Scholar search (http:/ / scholar. google. co. uk/ scholar?hl=en& lr=& q=intitle:Water+ footprints+ of+ nations& as_publication=Value+ of+ Water+ Research+ Report+ Series+ No. + 16& as_ylo=& as_yhi=& btnG=Search)). Value of Water Research Report Series No. 16 (UNESCO-IHE). . [5] Hoekstra, A.Y. and Chapagain, A.K. (2006). "Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern" (http:/ / www. springerlink. com/ content/ t6264j8730051762/ ). Water Resources Management (Springer Netherlands) 21 (1): 3548. doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9039-x. . [6] Data obtained from the Finnish Wikipedia article page Vesijalanjlki [7] Chapagain, A.K. and Orr, S.. "UK Water Footprint: the impact of the UK's food and fibre consumption on global water resources, Volume 1" (http:/ / assets. wwf. org. uk/ downloads/ water_footprint_uk. pdf). WWF-UK (WWF-UK). . and volume 2 Chapagain, A.K. and Orr, S.. "Volume 2" (http:/ / assets. wwf. org. uk/ downloads/ uk_waterfootprint_v2. pdf). WWF-UK (WWF-UK). . [8] "Waterfootprint.org Water footprint and virtual water." (http:/ / www. waterfootprint. org/ ?page=files/ home). . Retrieved 2008-05-30. [9] Water Footprint Manual.[http://www.waterfootprint.org/downloads/WaterFootprintManual2009.pdf [10] "Waterfootprint.org Water footprint and virtual water." (http:/ / www. waterfootprint. org/ ?page=files/ home). . [11] Wichelns, D. Virtual Water and Water Footprints Offer Limited Insight Regarding Important Policy Questions (http:/ / www. iwmi. cgiar. org/ Publications/ Journal_Articles/ index. aspx), Water Resources Development. Vol 26, No 4, 639651, December 2010.

External links
Water footprint websites
Water Footprint Network: (http://www.waterfootprint.org/) WWF-UK: (http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/safeguarding_the_natural_world/rivers_and_lakes/ water_footprint/index.cfm) WWF-NL: (http://www.wnf.nl/nl/wat_wnf_doet/thema_s/water/waterfootprint/index.cfm) UNESCO-IHE : (http://www.unesco-ihe.org/Value-of-Water-Research-Report-Series) WSOURCE: (http://www.wsourcegroup.com/water-conservation/conservation-intro.htm)

Water footprint calculators

Online water footprint calculators are available: For most countries of the world (in English): Individual water footprint calculator (http://www.waterfootprint. org/index.php?page=cal/waterfootprintcalculator_indv_ext) For the USA (in English): H2O Conserve water footprint calculator (http://www.h2oconserve.org) For Finland (in Finnish): Vesijalanjlki (http://www.vesijalanjalki.org) For iPhone (In English): WaterAflamed iPhone water footprint calculator (http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/ water-aflamed-water-footprint/id408976536?mt=8)

Infographics
Award-winning typographic poster on the water footprint of products (in English): Virtual Water Project (http:// www.virtualwater.eu)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Water footprint Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=429020261 Contributors: Ansil1965, Grundle2600, LauriUotinen, Look2See1, Meredyth, Monsoon Waves, Mukadderat, Ofol, QualityEnvironment, Rich Farmbrough, Shiftchange, Snooker, TettyNullus, Treeh9, Virtualgr, Waterenvironment2, Wikigrey, Woohookitty, Zodon, 26 anonymous edits

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/