A water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that examines both the direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater consumed by the individual or community, or used to produce goods and services produced by the business. Water use is measured in terms of the volumes of water consumed (evaporated or incorporated into a product) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for a given product, for any well-defined consumer group (e.g., individual, family, village, city, county, state, or country) or producer group (e.g., public corporation, private business, or economic sector). A water footprint is a geographically clear indicator showing not only the volumes of water use and pollution, but also their locations.
This step in the Water Footprint Assessment process refers to the collection of factual, empirical data on water footprints within the scope and depth previously defined.
Water Footprint Assessment
Water Footprint Assessment refers to all of the following activities: (i) quantifying and locating the water footprint of a process, product, producer or consumer, or quantifying the water footprint spatially and temporally in a specific geographic area; (ii) assessing the environmental, social and economic sustainability of this water footprint; and (iii) formulating a response strategy.
A measure of water efficiency or vice versa: the water footprint (m³/unit of product) of a process or product. This is the highest water footprint of a process or product produced most efficiently using the best practices and technologies available for a given percentage of production in the region or on a global scale. For example, if the global water footprint benchmark for cotton is 20%, this indicates that 20% of total cotton production in the world is currently done with a water footprint lower than or equal to 1900 m³/t. The remaining 80% of cotton production exceeds this figure and is therefore less efficient than the chosen benchmark. Water footprint benchmark values provide an incentive for manufacturers to reduce the water footprint of their products or processes.
Business Water Footprint
A business's water footprint – alternatively referred to as the corporate or organizational water footprint – is defined as the total volume of freshwater used directly and indirectly to run and support a business. A business's water footprint consists of two components: direct water use by the producer (for production/manufacturing or supporting activities) and indirect water use (water use in the producer's supply chain). 'A business's water footprint' is the same as 'the total water footprint of the business's output products'. A Consumer's
This is defined as the total volume of freshwater consumed and polluted for the production of the goods and services consumed by the consumer. This is calculated by summing people's direct water use and indirect water use. Indirect water use is found by multiplying the water footprints of all goods and services consumed.
The national consumption water footprint is defined as the total amount of freshwater used in the production of goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of a country. The national consumption water footprint can be assessed in two ways. In a bottom-up approach, the water footprint of all consumed products is considered as the sum of the products of the water footprints of the relevant products. In a top-down approach, the national consumption water footprint is calculated by adding gross virtual water imports to total local water resource use and subtracting gross virtual water exports. National production water footprint
Another term used for 'a country's water footprint'.
The water footprint of a product (commodity, good or service) is obtained by summing the total volume of fresh water used in the production of the product at various stages of the production chain. A product's water footprint expresses not only the total volume of water used but also where and when the water was used.
Offsetting the negative impacts of the water footprint is part of water neutrality. Offsetting is the final step taken after previous efforts to reduce the water footprint as much as possible. Offsetting can be done by contributing to the more sustainable and equitable use of water in the hydrological units where the effects of the remaining water footprint are located (e.g., by investing). Water Footprint Sustainability Assessment
The stage of a water footprint assessment that aims to evaluate whether a given water footprint is sustainable from an environmental, social, and economic perspective.
Water footprint within a geographically defined area
This is defined as the total freshwater consumption and pollution within the boundaries of the area. The area may be a hydrological unit such as a catchment area or river basin, or an administrative unit such as a municipality, province, state, or country.
This is defined as the total volume of freshwater consumed or polluted within the boundaries of a country. Water neutral A process, product, consumer, community, or business is water neutral if: (i) the water footprint has been reduced as much as possible, especially in areas of high water scarcity or pollution; and (ii) the negative environmental, social, and economic externalities of the remaining water footprint have been offset (compensated). In some special cases, if interference with the water cycle can be completely avoided – for example, through full water recycling and zero waste – being 'water neutral' means having a zero water footprint; In other cases, such as in crop cultivation, the water footprint cannot be reduced to zero. Therefore, being 'water neutral' does not mean reducing the water footprint to zero, but rather reducing it as much as possible and fully offsetting the negative economic, social, and environmental externalities of the remaining water footprint.
The degree of surface runoff pollution is measured as the actual rate at which the surface runoff's waste assimilation capacity is consumed. A water pollution level of 100% means that the surface runoff's waste assimilation capacity is completely exhausted.
Water efficiency is the unit of product produced per unit of water consumption or pollution. Water efficiency (unit of product/m³) is the inverse of water footprint (m³/unit of product). Blue water efficiency refers to the units of product obtained per cubic meter of blue water consumed. Green water efficiency refers to the units of product obtained per cubic meter of green water consumed. Grey water efficiency refers to the units of product obtained per cubic meter of grey water produced. The term 'water efficiency' is similar to the terms labor efficiency or land efficiency, but here production is divided according to water input. When water efficiency is measured as monetary output rather than physical output per unit of water, 'economic water efficiency' can be discussed.
The relationship between a country's self-sufficiency in water resources and its dependence on water resources A country's 'water self-sufficiency' is defined as the ratio of national consumption to its internal water footprint to its total water footprint. This shows the extent to which the country provides the water necessary for the production of domestic demand for goods and services. Self-sufficiency is 100% if all necessary water can be obtained from within the country's own territory. If a country's demand for goods and services is largely met through virtual water imports, water self-sufficiency approaches zero. Countries that import virtual water are effectively dependent on water resources in other parts of the world. A country's 'virtual water import dependency' is defined as the ratio of national consumption's external water footprint to its total water footprint.
The amount of freshwater extracted from surface or groundwater sources. Some of the extracted freshwater will evaporate, some will return to the basin from which it was extracted, and some may flow back into another basin or the sea. Blue water
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