City water stress and industrial water-saving potential in stringent management of China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zongyong Zhang ◽  
Yuli Shan ◽  
Martin Tillotson ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Hong Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Saving ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Low Efficiency ◽  
Annual Water ◽  
City Water ◽  
Water Scarce

Abstract China’s industrial water withdrawal soared in the last decades and remained high. Stringent water management policies were set to save water through improving industrial withdrawal efficiency by 20% between 2015 and 2020. Although China has a nation-wide water scarcity, scarcity at city-level has not been fully explored. Thus, it is meaningful to use sectoral data to investigate industrial water saving potential and implication for alleviating scarcity. Here, we account for water withdrawal and scarcity in 272 prefectural cities, using a 2015 data benchmark. The top 10% of low-efficiency sectors occupied 46% water use. In scenario analysis of 41 sectors across 146 water scarce cities, we assume a convergence of below-average efficiencies to the national sector-average. Results reveal overall efficiency could be increased by 20%, with 18.9 km3 (±3.2%) water savings, equivalent to annual water demand of Australia or Hebei province in China. A minority of sectors (13%) could contribute to most (43%) water savings whilst minimizing economic perturbations. In contrast, implementing water efficiency measures in the majority of sectors would result in significant economic disruption to achieve identical savings. Water efficiency improvements should be targeted towards this minority of sectors: cloth(ing) supply-chain, chemical manufacturing, and electricity and heat supply.

scholarly journals Opportunities for saving and reallocating agricultural water to alleviate water scarcity

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 886-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Richter ◽  
James D. Brown ◽  
Rachel DiBenedetto ◽  
Adrianna Gorsky ◽  
Emily Keenan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
Consumptive Water Use ◽  
Water Scarce ◽  
Consumptive Water

As water scarcity worsens globally, there is growing interest in finding ways to reduce water consumption, and for reallocating water savings to other uses including environmental restoration. Because irrigated agriculture is responsible for more than 90% of all consumptive water use in water-scarce regions, much attention is being focused on opportunities to save water on irrigated farms. At the same time, many recent journal articles have expressed concern that claims of water-saving potential in irrigation systems lack technical credibility, or are at least exaggerated, due to failures to properly account for key elements of water budgets such as return flows. Critics have also asserted that opportunities for reallocating irrigation savings to other uses are limited because any freed-up water is taken up by other farmers. A comprehensive literature and internet survey was undertaken to identify well-documented studies of water-saving strategies in irrigated agriculture, as well as a review of case studies in which water savings have been successfully transferred to other uses. Our findings suggest that there is in fact considerable potential to reduce consumptive water use in irrigation systems when proper consideration is given to water budget accounting, and those savings can be beneficially reallocated to other purposes.

scholarly journals Pressures imposed by energy production on compliance with China's ‘Three Red Lines’ water policy in water-scarce provinces

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiawei Liao ◽  
Jing Ming
Keyword(s):  
Water Policy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
Scarce Water ◽  
Water Scarce

Abstract In 2015, 16.52 km3 of water was consumed for energy production in China, of which coal production, thermoelectric power and coke used 57.7%, 28.8% and 6.2%, respectively. Most water is consumed in China's northern (north and northwest) provinces where water is scarce and energy production's impact on water resources is further intensified in the north when this water scarcity is taken into account. The top five provinces with the largest consumption of scarce water by energy production are predominantly concentrated in the North China Plain. In 2015, nine provinces did not meet their Industrial Water Efficiency Improvement targets set by the ‘Three Red Lines’ water policy. Of these nine, five provinces (Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang and Ningxia) are located in northern regions and face severe water stresses. Water consumed by energy production occupied more than 20% of the Industrial Water Allowances (IWAs) that were allowed by the ‘Three Red Lines’ policy in all five provinces. In Shanxi, energy consumption exceeded more than three times its IWA. Our findings underscore that energy production imposes severe pressure on water-scarce provinces' compliance with the ‘Three Red Lines’ policy and thus suggest a necessity to coordinate cross-sectoral policies, planning and investments.

scholarly journals Improving Water Efficiency in a Municipal Indoor Swimming-Pool Complex: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10530
Author(s):  
Flora Silva ◽  
Ana M. Antão-Geraldes ◽  
Carmem Zavattieri ◽  
Maria João Afonso ◽  
Flávio Freire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Swimming Pool ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Consumption Reduction ◽  
Indoor Swimming Pool ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Annual Water ◽  
Filter Backwashing

This study aimed to determine the water demand of a municipal swimming pool complex to propose water use efficiency measures. Concomitantly, the possibility of recycling and reusing the water from filter backwashing was evaluated. The pools consumed 25.6% of water, the filter backwashing 24.5%, and the showers 34.7%. Despite the current impossibility of reducing water consumption in pools and filter backwashing, it is feasible to promote more efficient use of water through reducing water consumption by adopting simple water-saving initiatives for showers, taps, and flushing cisterns. These were organized into three distinct scenarios: (a) flushing cistern volume adjustment and the replacement of washbasin and kitchen taps; (b) flushing cistern volume adjustment and shower replacement and (c) flushing cistern volume adjustment, shower, washbasin, and kitchen taps replacement. Under scenarios 1, 2, and 3, the water consumption reduction was 8.0, 13.2, and 20.4%, respectively. The initial investment for scenario 1 was €2290.5, €859.0 for scenario 2 and €3149.5 for scenario 3; the annual water bill reduction was €7115.4, €11,518.1, and €17,655.9, respectively. Therefore, the turnover of the investment was four (scenario 1), one (scenario 2), and three months (scenario 3). The filter washings attained the required standard for irrigation after being subjected to 15 h of sedimentation.

Results of the largest residential demand management program in Australia

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 249-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Turner ◽  
S. White ◽  
K. Beatty ◽  
A. Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Total Saving ◽  
Income Category ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Residential Demand

This paper provides details and the results of an evaluation study carried out on the largest residential demand management program in Australia, the Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) ‘Every Drop Counts’ (EDC) residential retrofit program. The evaluation measured the water savings of program participants and compared them to a control group. Savings of 20.9 ± 2.5 kilolitres per household per annum (kL/hh/a) were found from statistical analysis of water meter readings of the sample of single residential households analysed. These individual savings effectively provide SWC with a potential total saving of 3,344 ± 400 megalitres per annum (ML/a) for the single residential houses retrofitted alone, i.e. 80% of the 200,000 households retrofitted to date. The evaluation identified that no ‘decay’ in average savings were found over the maximum four year period assessed. Other factors evaluated during the study included: analysis of individual water efficiency measures; comparison of savings with other evaluations; and savings related to occupancy ratio, geographical grouping, income category and defined socioeconomic categories.

Data Mining Model in Regional Target Decomposition of Water Resources Utilization Efficiency

2014 ◽  
Vol 580-583 ◽  
pp. 2082-2087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Wei Chen ◽  
Ji Wen Huang ◽  
Bing Li ◽  
Shi Dong Fu ◽  
Xin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Shandong Province ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Water Utilization ◽  
Clustering Model ◽  
Mining Model ◽  
Municipal Level

Data mining model is the most important technical basis of the control target decomposition for the most stringent water resources management of Shandong province. K-means clustering model is adopted to analysis the water withdrawal of industrial added value per ten thousand yuan in 2010. Based on the yearly industrial water consumption trend from 1995 to 2010 of 17 municipal-level cities in Shandong province, the ARIMA (p, d, q) model is established through a lot of fitting and optimization and then the regional industrial water demand and water utilization efficiency in 2015 were forecasted. According to the proposed principal and technical route of target decomposition, the industrial water utilization efficiency target in 2015 of the whole province and 17 municipal-level cities are defined respectively.

Study on Industrial Water-Saving System - Taking the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Base as an Example

2012 ◽  
Vol 212-213 ◽  
pp. 658-663
Author(s):  
Juan Liu ◽  
Cheng Yang ◽  
Ju Ping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Water Management System ◽  
Recycling Economy ◽  
The Index System ◽  
Reform Model ◽  
System Water

Taking the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Base as an example, this paper focuses on the study on four aspects: reform model of industrial water supply water management system, efficient industrial water management system, water-saving system of water resource recycling economy, and the index system of industrial water-saving, it develops water-saving programs, and conducts a comprehensive demonstration to the water saving efforts of the three leading water industry. The results show that water-saving benefits are obvious, and has an active role in demonstration.

scholarly journals Policy reforms to promote efficient and sustainable water use in Swiss agriculture

Water Policy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Finger ◽  
Niklaus Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Environmental Laws ◽  
Scarce Water ◽  
Irrigated Crops ◽  
Irrigation Technologies

The more sustainable use of scarce water resources is a policy goal in several countries. In this regard, current discussions on potential policy reforms in Switzerland revolve around the subsidization of water-saving irrigation technologies. Today, the share of drip irrigation systems is low, at 3%. In Switzerland, environmental laws specify levels of water flow that must not be undercut. Variable pricing of water, however, has not yet been used. This paper analyzes whether subsidies on water-saving irrigation techniques would be beneficial in this legislative setting, and shows that such subsidies may have crowding out effects because they could provide incentives to switch from non-irrigated crops (e.g. wheat) to the production of crops (e.g. potatoes) that require irrigation. This may result in even higher water withdrawal rates. Such an increased competition for water resources may also result in adverse conditions for farmers. By contrast, our analysis shows the implementation of water prices could lead to a sustainable increase in the share of water-saving technologies, to a shift from irrigated to non-irrigated crops, and therefore to a reduction of overall water use in agriculture. Thus, the introduction of water prices should have absolute priority if agricultural water policies are reformed in Switzerland.

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