Water Footprint
The water footprint is one of the families of environmental footprints that help us understand how our production and consumption choices are affecting natural resources. Water footprints can be calculated for an individual person, a process, a product’s entire value chain or for a business, a river basin or a nation. They provide powerful insights for businesses to understand their water-related business risk, for governments to understand the role of water in their economy and water dependency, and for consumers to know how much water is hidden in the products they use. Most importantly, they help drive strategic action toward sustainable, efficient and equitable water use.
IRIDRA proposeswater footprint analysis for both public and private clients, aiming to optimize water management.
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The water footprint is a measure of humanity's appropriation of fresh water in volumes of water consumed and/or polluted.
The water footprint allows us to answer a broad range of questions for companies, governments and individuals. For example:
- where is the water dependence in my company's operations or supply chain?
- how well are regulations protecting our water resources?
- how secure are our food or energy supplies?
- can I do something to reduce my own water footprint and help us manage water for both people and nature?
Depending on the question you are asking, the water footprint can be measured in cubic metres per tonne of production, per hectare of cropland, per unit of currency and in other functional units. The water footprint helps us understand for what purposes our limited freshwater resources are being consumed and polluted. The impact it has depends on where the water is taken from and when. If it comes from a place where water is already scarce, the consequences can be significant and require action.
The water footprint has three components: green, blue and grey. Together, these components provide a comprehensive picture of water use by delineating the source of water consumed, either as rainfall/soil moisture or surface/groundwater, and the volume of fresh water required for assimilation of pollutants.
The three water footprint
Green water footprint is water from precipitation that is stored in the root zone of the soil and evaporated, transpired or incorporated by plants. It is particularly relevant for agricultural, horticultural and forestry products.
Blue water footprint is water that has been sourced from surface or groundwater resources and is either evaporated, incorporated into a product or taken from one body of water and returned to another, or returned at a different time. Irrigated agriculture, industry and domestic water use can each have a blue water footprint.
Grey water footprint is the amount of fresh water required to assimilate pollutants to meet specific water quality standards. The grey water footprint considers point-source pollution discharged to a freshwater resource directly through a pipe or indirectly through runoff or leaching from the soil, impervious surfaces, or other diffuse sources.
Source: www.waterfootprint.org
