Why should we take care of water and how can we measure our consumption?
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Water Footprint (HH)
In March of this year, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the start of the Water Decade. This focuses on sustainable development and promoting the efficient use of water at all levels, taking into account the nexus between water, energy, food and the environment (UN, 2018). The decade takes on vital importance considering that currently 2.5 billion people live in water scarce areas, where more than 20% of the world's GDP is generated (High Level Panel on Water, 2018).
The rapid and disorganized urbanization process has had substantial impacts on the availability and quality of water in cities, including overexploitation of water resources, water security risks, increased vulnerability to flooding, and water-related health impacts. This process is aggravated by climate change, a problem that threatens to reduce water availability and impose considerable economic costs for national and global authorities (World Bank, 2012).
According to the Global Water Partnership (GWP), almost a third of renewable water resources are in South America (World Bank, 2015). And Peru is eighth in the ranking of countries with the largest amount of water, having 231 watersheds and 70% of the world's tropical glaciers (WFN, 2013). Despite this, the main water availability is concentrated on the Atlantic slope, where 97.7% of the resource is found and only 33.5% of the population; while only 1.8% of the resource is found on the Pacific slope, which holds 62.4% of the population; the remaining proportion, 0.5%, is found on the Titicaca slope, where 4.1% of the population is found (UNDP, 2010).
In this sense, one of the main challenges that humanity will face in the coming decades will be to balance the increase in demand for resources with the environmental sustainability of the planet. In view of this need, different methodologies, approaches and indicators have been developed to assess the impacts of freshwater use, which are in full evolution. The development of the Water Footprint concept has been an important step in this direction (Kumar & Azapagic, 2011).
What does it measure?
The Water Footprint shows the human appropriation of limited freshwater resources and thus provides a basis for discussion of water allocation and sustainable, equitable, and efficient water use. In addition, the Water Footprint provides a basis for assessing the impacts of goods and services at the basin level and the formulation of strategies to reduce these impacts. In this sense, water scarcity is understood as the quotient resulting from dividing the Water Footprint by the total renewable water resources; it is a relative indicator of water consumption based on the availability of domestic sources (García, J; Cantero, L.; 2009).
The Water Footprint is methodologically based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and seeks to assess the magnitude of potential environmental impacts related to water, as well as to identify opportunities to reduce these environmental impacts. An assessment of an organization's water footprint takes a life cycle perspective based on all of its activities. Like the LCA, the Water Footprint is standardized by an ISO (14046:2014) and its respective NTP, where the principles, requirements and guidelines related to the assessment of the water footprint of products, processes and organizations based on the LCA are presented and specified.
The methodology used for measuring the water footprint is in accordance with the ISO 14046:2014 water footprint standard and involves the analysis of the water footprint inventory, the evaluation of potential impacts caused by the water footprint in terms of quantity (scarcity footprint) and quality (gray footprint) and the interpretation of the results. The methodological approach of the study is based on life cycle analysis (LCA) applied to water use, calculating its consumption in the operational scope of the organization, in addition to the potential impacts associated with water stress and water quality locally.
It is worth mentioning that the water footprint does not include seawater, only freshwater. It also does not include water that is returned to the environment without losing its quality after use, since it is immediately available for use again. In other words, it measures the amount of water that is actually impacted in the process and/or incorporated into the product.
Which industries should take this indicator into account?
Everyone who makes use of water resources and can have an impact on them. Government, industry, consumers and society in general play an important role in achieving integrated water resources management.
What is the purpose of measuring it?
Human impacts on water systems are related to human consumption and issues such as water scarcity or contamination are better understood and managed when considering the production and supply chains as a whole.
At the industrial level, it is essential to know the water footprint in the production of goods, because although water is not part of the product in all cases, it is part of the industrial processes that are carried out, therefore there are costs involved in water resources. It is essential that industries have an idea of how much water they are consuming and how much they really need, thus improving the efficiency of their consumption and minimizing losses/waste of this resource.
In addition, water problems are often closely related to the structure of the global economy. Many countries have significantly externalized their water footprint by importing goods from other places where they require a high water content for their production. This creates significant pressure on water resources in exporting regions, where water resource management and conservation becomes a challenge.
By: Almendra Cáceres and Diego Calero.
Sources:
- World Bank (2012). Integrated Urban Water Management. Blue Water Green Cities. Water Partnership Program, WSP. Washington DC, USA.
- World Bank (2015). Brazil, Colombia and Peru, among those with the most water in the world. Available at: http://www.bancomundial.org/es/news/feature/2015/03/10/brasil-colombia-peru-paises-mas-agua-tienen-en-el-mundo
- García, J; Cantero, L. (2009). Global indicators for the evaluation of the sustainable use of water resources: Cuban case. Chap2. Section 2. Water Footprint (HH) and Virtual Water (AV). p. 7.
- High-Level Panel on Water (2018). Making Every Drop Count - An Agenda for Water Action. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17825HLPW_Outcome.pdf
- Kumar, H., Azapagic, A. (2011). Water Footprint: methodologies and case study for assessing the impacts of water use. Cleaner Production. 19: 1288-1299. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.04.003.
- UN. (2018). Water Decade for Sustainable Development officially kicks off. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/es/news/sustainable/water-action-decade.html
- UNDP (2010). Human Development Report Peru 2009. Chap3. It comes from the heights: water availability and uses. Available at: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/idh2009-peru-vol1-2.pdf
- WFN (2013). Freshwater Program - Water, life and energy. Available at: http://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/154034_www_broch_aguadulce_2013_2_1.pdf
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