Water footprint is an environmental indicator
that measures the volume of fresh water (in litres or cubic metres) used throughout the entire production chain of a consumer item or service. It can be used to measure the consumption of water for practically anything – from manufacturing to the entire consumption of a country, including for example a harvest, or a company’s annual activities.
TYPES OF WATER FOOTPRINTS:
A water footprint is made up of three things depending on where the water comes from:
- Green water: is water from precipitation (rain or snow) 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: is water that has been sourced from surface or groundwater resources and is either evaporated, incorporated into a product or tipped into the sea. Irrigated agriculture, industry and domestic water use can each have a blue water footprint.
- Grey water: is the amount of fresh water required to assimilate pollutants in the production process to meet water quality standards.
Standard H2O footprint assessment
A full water footprint assessment consists of four distinct phases:
1. Setting goals and scope.
2. Water footprint accounting.
3. Water footprint sustainability assessment
4. Water footprint response formulation.