scholarly journals Water footprint

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
Virág Nagypál ◽  
Edit Mikó ◽  
Imre Czupy ◽  
Cecilia Hodúr
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Efficient Solution ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Meat Demand ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Sustainable Water Use

Sustainability of water use has got into focus recently, as availability of fresh water resources is under depletion. Population growth, extreme weather conditions (drought), increasing global meat demand all results in higher water consumption of humanity and ecosystem. Water footprint is a promising indicator, which assesses both qualitative and quantitative deterioration of fresh water supplies. By identifying blue, green and grey water components, water use can be assessed in a more comprehensive way. Furthermore impact assessment of different components during production and processing let us identify crucial points of water use, where more efficient solution should be found. As a consequence of a more conscious and sustainable water use assessment considering water footprint, there is a chance, that future generations will inherit fresh water supplies at least in the same condition as we got it from our ancestors. 

scholarly journals Sustainable Water Use Considering Three Hungarian Dairy Farms

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virág Nagypál ◽  
Edit Mikó ◽  
Cecilia Hodúr
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Herd Size ◽  
Productivity Level ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
The Impact

Sustainable water management is one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century as availability of fresh water resources is under depletion. Growing population, extreme weather conditions (drought, fire, flood), and increasing global food demand all result in higher water consumption by humans. Assessing qualitative and quantitative deterioration of fresh water supplies is crucial in water scarcity areas. By identifying blue, green and grey water components, water use can be assessed in a more comprehensive way. Water use assessment on a dairy farm is influenced by several factors such as chosen breed, herd size, keeping, feeding and milking technology. Productivity level of milking cows, amount of daily milking and type of litter (straw or liquid manure) have impact on water use by technology and cattle. If these factors are assessed and their proportion within the total water use is identified or calculated, dairy farmers are able to analyze water management precisely and shift to more sustainable solutions. The aim of this research is to analyze and to compare the impact of different keeping systems, i.e., traditional and modern, and milking technologies, i.e., robotic milking system, parallel and polygon parlors, on the water use of dairy farms to give a guide to dairy experts and to find opportunities where water recycling/reuse might be applicable.

Water Scarcity: An Energy Problem

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Sheldon ◽  
Ory Zik
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Alternative Water ◽  
Least Energy

Using the connection between water and energy as a case study, we present a model that uses the effects of geospatial and temporal context on embedded energy to approximate resource sustainability for water. First, the basic steps of calculating the energy intensity for a given location are discussed. Intensity is presented in units of energy per volume of water. In the case of supplying fresh water, energy intensity depends upon the quality of the original resource, its location relative to the end use location, and the type of technology in use to move and treat the water. Pumping, and conveyance, purification, distribution, wastewater treatment, and system inefficiencies (e.g. evaporative losses, leaks) increase the total energy investment, while water recycling decreases the total investment. Lift and purification are typically the greatest contributors to the overall energy intensity of a fresh water supply, but system inefficiencies can have a substantial impact as well. Over time, growing cities tend to progress from using their least energy intensive water resources (e.g. untreated surface water) to their most energy intensive (e.g. long distance transfers, desalinated water lifted to high elevations) as water demands begin to outstrip supplies. As a function of water availability, we assign each location an intensity value that approaches the intensity of its next “best” (i.e., least energy intensive) source of water. Hence, an area which is depleting its available surface and groundwater may have desalinated surface or groundwater as its next (and last) resort. The area would be characterized as undergoing water stress, and relatively less sustainable than areas which use their local fresh water supplies with no perceivable negative impact. An operating principle of this research is that with enough energy, it is possible to supply any location with fresh water. Desalinated ocean water, moved over long distances and lifted to great heights represents that upper limit. Working backwards from this extreme scenario, it is possible to not only move away from the paradigm of unitless or vague sustainability indices, but to quantify resource scarcity in a way that is both intuitive and actionable. The model is also self-correcting: areas may reduce the energy intensity of a sustainable water supply through better management of existing fresh water resources or through technological innovations that produce fresh water from degraded sources in an energy efficient manner. A major conclusion of this research is that the amount of energy necessary to maintain a reliable supply of fresh water greatly varies by location and technology choice. Further, many areas of the country overuse their local fresh water sources. To create a durable water supply, such areas can 1) reduce their use of local fresh water to sustainable levels and invest in alternative water sources—at a high financial and energy cost, or 2) aggressively pursue water efficiency measures so that they can both reduce their reliance on local fresh water sources and avoid the high costs associated with alternative water supplies. Additionally, by converting water use to energy consumption as a function of scarcity, it is possible to weigh the relative importance of water use efficiency to conservation in other areas (e.g. electricity, direct heating, waste disposal).

scholarly journals A Pegada Hídrica e o Nível da Consciência Ambiental de Três Escolas do Ensino Médio do Município de Pombal-PB

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ricelli Pereira de Almeida ◽  
Michel Almeida da Silva ◽  
Diêgo Lima Crispim ◽  
Eclivaneide Caldas de Abreu Carolino ◽  
Érica Cristine Medeiros Machado
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
School Students

<p>A pegada hídrica é uma ferramenta de gestão de recursos hídricos que indica o consumo de água doce com base em seus usos direto e indireto. O uso direto é feito pelo consumidor ou produtor ao utilizar ou elaborar um produto e uso indireto consiste ao longo da cadeia produtiva dos produtos utilizados pelo consumidor ou produtor. Desta forma, tal indicador pode ser utilizado na conscientização e racionalização do consumo de água doce, uma vez que permite aos usuários em geral o entendimento do quanto de água é utilizado na fabricação de produtos ao longo de sua cadeia produtiva. Portanto, os segmentos da sociedade podem quantificar a sua contribuição para os conflitos de uso da água e degradação ambiental nas bacias hidrográficas em todo o mundo. A metodologia utilizada para a realização deste trabalho consistiu na aplicação de questionários, em três escolas pré-selecionadas, com o propósito de avaliar o nível de conscientização dos alunos em relação ao consumo de água. Este trabalho tem como objetivo utilizar o indicador pegada hídrica na conscientização ambiental do uso da água por alunos do ensino médio do município de Pombal – PB, com base no uso de novas tecnologias de estudo do espaço geográfico. Apesar de os alunos da escola menino Jesus apresentar melhor desempenho no consumo e gerenciamento dos recursos hídricos, sua média de acertos foi muito próxima das escolas públicas Monsenhor Vicente Freitas e Arruda Câmara. O valor médio da pegada hídrica nacional é de 1.381 m³/hab/ano e a média global é de 1.240m³/hab/ano, logo percebe-se que a maioria dos bairros obtiveram média abaixo da global e da nacional.</p><p><strong><em>The water footprint and the level environmental consciousness three high school education middle municipality of Pombal-PB</em></strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong>: </strong>The water footprint is a water resource management tool that indicates the fresh water consumption based on their direct and indirect uses. The direct use is the use made by the consumer or producer to use or develop a product and indirect use is the use along the supply chain of the products used by the consumer or producer. Thus, such an indicator can be used in awareness and rationalization of consumption of fresh water, as it allows users overall understanding of how much water is used in the manufacture of products throughout its supply chain. Therefore, the segments of society can quantify its contribution to conflicts of water use and environmental degradation in river basins around the world. The methodology used for this work consisted of questionnaires in three pre-selected schools, in order to assess the level of students' awareness of water consumption. This paper aims to use the water footprint indicator on the environmental awareness of water use by high school students in the city of Pombal - PB, based on the use of new study of geographical space technologies. Although the menino Jesus School students perform better in consumption and management of water resources, his batting average was very close to the public schools Monsenhor Vicente Freitas and Arruda camara. The average national water footprint is 1.381 m³ / person / year and the global average is 1.240m³ / person / year, then it is clear that most districts have obtained average below the global and national levels.</p>

Mining Impacts on the Environment - Water Footprint Assessment of Copper Cathode and Copper Concentrate

2015 ◽  
Vol 1130 ◽  
pp. 644-647
Author(s):  
B.K.C. Chan ◽  
Ming Yu Xiong ◽  
Guo Ping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Copper Cathode ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Copper Concentrate

Water is the source of life and an essential resource for our global economy. It empowers agricultural and industrial production and development, and fosters the nature and ecosystems. With increasing water scarcity, growing population, climate change and extreme weather conditions, together with stricter water regulations, decline in ore grade and increasing controversy on water use between mining operations and local communities, effective governance of shared water resources and protecting water quality is an economic imperative and social responsibility for mining companies. Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) is a holistic methodological framework that allows integrated assessment for operational and supply-chain water use and the associated water footprint sustainability in different sectors at various spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents a WFA for two copper products – copper cathode and copper concentrate produced by Zijin Mining (China) based on the data from 2012 and 2013. The aim of this study is to evaluate the water consumption within the operations and supply chains, to understand the product sustainability and identify water footprint reduction targets to minimize its associated social and environmental impact on natural resources in the catchment. The two copper products were produced from two different processes, hence their different associated water footprints. Evaporation due to the vast area of heap leach pad is the main contribution to the blue water footprint (WF) for copper cathode whereas supply chain WF is negligible. The grey WF is found to be due to total copper concentration in the effluent discharge. This assessment goes beyond water footprint accounting stage and includes the environmental sustainability of the direct water footprint. Opportunities for efficiency improvement across the two processing plants and prevention strategies to reduce impacts on the environment are also discussed. The comprehensive approach makes the WFA unique from other water use assessments and shows its value in water sustainability strategy making.

Assessment of Water Footprint in Selected Crops: A State Level Appraisal

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
Mohammad Suhail
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
State Level ◽  
Soil Survey ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water Consumption ◽  
Balanced Approach ◽  
Green Component

Every commodity or goods has intake of water i.e. either in processing or furnished stage. Thus, the present study propensities macro-level (states-level) water footprint (WFP) assessment of selected eight crops namely, Wheat, Barley, Maize, Millets, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans and Tea. The aim of present research is to assess water use in selected crops at field level. In addition, the spatial evaluation at state level also considered as one of the significant objective to understand regional disparity and/or similarly. Methodology and approach of assessment was adopted from Water Footprint Assessment Manual (2011). Data was collected from state Agricultural Directorate, National Bureau of Soil Survey and landuse, published reports and online database such as FAOSTAT, WMO, WFN, and agriculture census. Results show that green component of WFP contributes large fraction as about 72 percent, while blue and grey component amounted of about 19 and 9 percent of the total water consumption, respectively. Moreover, spatial variability of blue, green and grey among the states assimilated by soil regime and climate barriers. Supply of blue water is high where the region imparted to semi-arid or arid land. Consequently, a balanced approach between green and blue water use has been recommended in the present study to address increasing water demand in the future.

scholarly journals Assessing local impacts of water use on human health: evaluation of water footprint models in the Province Punjab, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Mikosch ◽  
Markus Berger ◽  
Elena Huber ◽  
Matthias Finkbeiner
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Deprivation ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Income Loss ◽  
Human Health Damage ◽  
Health Damage

Abstract Purpose The water footprint (WF) method is widely applied to quantify water use along the life cycle of products and organizations and to evaluate the resulting impacts on human health. This study analyzes the cause-effect chains for the human health damage related to the water use on a local scale in the Province Punjab of Pakistan, evaluates their consistency with existing WF models, and provides recommendations for future model development. Method Locally occurring cause-effect chains are analyzed based on site observations in Punjab and a literature review. Then, existing WF models are compared to the findings in the study area including their comprehensiveness (covered cause-effect chains), relevance (contribution of the modeled cause-effect chain to the total health damage), and representativeness (correspondence with the local cause-effect chain). Finally, recommendations for the development of new characterization models describing the local cause-effect chains are provided. Results and discussion The cause-effect chains for the agricultural water deprivation include malnutrition due to reduced food availability and income loss as well as diseases resulting from the use of wastewater for irrigation, out of which only the first one is addressed by existing WF models. The cause-effect chain for the infectious diseases due to domestic water deprivation is associated primarily with the absence of water supply systems, while the linkage to the water consumption of a product system was not identified. The cause-effect chains related to the water pollution include the exposure via agricultural products, fish, and drinking water, all of which are reflected in existing impact assessment models. Including the groundwater compartment may increase the relevance of the model for the study area. Conclusions Most cause-effect chains identified on the local scale are consistent with existing WF models. Modeling currently missing cause-effect chains for the impacts related to the income loss and wastewater usage for irrigation can enhance the assessment of the human health damage in water footprinting.

The Decomposition Analysis of Tourism Water Footprint in Taiwan: Revealing Decision-Relevant Information

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Yen Sun ◽  
Ching-Mai Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Structural Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Total Consumption ◽  
Economic Output ◽  
Input Structure

Tourism water consumption reflects the dynamics between the visitation volume, economic structure, and water use technology of a destination. This paper presents a structural decomposition analysis that attributes changes of Taiwan’s tourism water footprint into the demand factors of total consumption and purchasing patterns, and production factors of the industry input structure and water use technology. From 2006 to 2011, Taiwan experienced a 48% growth in visitor expenditures and a 74% surge in its water footprint. Diseconomies of scale were observed, with a 1% increase in consumption leading to a 1.5% increase in the tourism water footprint. A strong preference by visitors for water-intensive goods and services and a changing economic structure requiring more water input for tourism establishments and supply chain members contributed to this worrisome pattern. The water requirements received only a minimal offset effect with technological improvements. Decoupling tourism water consumption from economic output is currently unattainable.

STEM for All on the SS Freshspring: VR Tour

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashim Yaqub ◽  
Martin Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
Virtual Tour ◽  
The Past ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
The World ◽  
Interactive 3D

Over the past year the world has changed dramatically. With greater restrictions on accessibility, the need to provide innovative and distributable remote experiences is now more prominent than ever. BMT has partnered with the SS Freshspring Trust to create multi-generational STEM experiences. “Preserving the past to inspire knowledge for the future”. The SS Freshspring Trust have a vision to become a STEM hub by utilising cutting-edge technology. BMT have extensive experience in developing VR applications in the Maritime Domain. With skills shortfalls in many engineering disciplines, there is a need to inspire future generations into careers in STEM. Equally, many adults have a passion for technology and have valuable skills to offer to STEM projects. This paper uses the historic vessel SS Freshspring, a 1940s RFA Fresh Water Carrier currently being restored in North Devon, as the basis for exploring a range of initiatives and activities aimed at making engineering and technology interesting and accessible to all. The specific focus is on the development of an interactive 3D virtual tour, aiming to provide access to a wide audience by targeting a range of modalities including smartphones, internet browsers, and most consumer VR headsets.

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