Understanding water footprint

One night, sitting on my couch as usual, I was staring blankly at the ceiling, when my gaze fell on the words, ‘WATER FOOTPRINT!’ written in bold on the laptop screen of my environmentalist friend sitting close to me.

"Does water have ‘footprint’?" I asked with utter surprise and shock writ large on my face.

She smiled and said, "It is not that ‘footprint’! In simple words, ‘water footprint’ is the volume of water used."

She saw me staring at the water dispenser with chiller that was installed in our hallway.

"Water that we visibly use in cooking, cleaning, drinking, etc. is not even 5 percent of the total water we use during a day. We use almost 5500 litres each day and most part of this water is the water that goes into producing the food and other products we use during the day. Everything we use takes water to make but we don’t realise how much water goes into producing these things as we can’t see or touch this water.

"This water that we cannot see or touch is called ‘embedded water’ or ‘virtual water’ or ‘indirect water.’ Direct water is the water we can see and touch – that is used for cooking, washing clothes, drinking. etc.

"Water footprint includes both direct and indirect water footprint. For a product it is the total amount of water that is used during the various steps in the production process and the whole supply chain before reaching the end-user. Not just water consumption - water pollution is also taken into account while calculating water footprint. It can be measured for a single process, for a product, an individual, an entire multi-national company or a country."

She further explained, that when we make a bowl of pasta, water is required to boil the dry pasta in the pot – this is direct water use for the person eating that pasta at home. In order to produce the pasta, water is required at various steps along the value chain, and when the water used during those steps is added up, it makes up the virtual water footprint of that pasta. This includes the water required for growing the wheat, water that goes into producing the fuel for the machines required to harvest the wheat and transport the pasta to the store and the water needed for processing the wheat into flour and pasta.

If we take the example of a nylon shirt, water that is required to wash a nylon shirt is direct water use for the person who owns it. Whereas the total amount of water required at the various stages along the value chain, make up the ‘virtual water footprint’ for the shirt.

The water footprint of a product is calculated by adding up all the water required during each step of the production process. The calculation of water footprint is comparatively simple in case of an individual or a product. It is far more complicated in case of a county or a city for instance. We will dive deep into these topics in subsequent blog posts.

The concept of water footprint was given by Professor Arjen Hoekstra and he coined the term in the year 2002.

You must be wondering why this concept was needed?

We all need water but only 2.5 percent of the total water that exists on earth is fresh water. Knowing where the fresh water is and how we can manage it, can help us provide a solution to one of our most pressing problems – making sure there is enough water for sustenance of all living things on the planet. WAE water coolers and dispensers are designed in such a way that there is minimal spillage and wastage of water. WAE hydration solutions are sustainable and eco-friendly.

About 70 percent of the fresh water on this planet is in the form of ice, thirty percent is ground water and only 1.2 percent is surface water. It is a common perception that fresh water exists only in rivers and lakes but most of the liquid fresh water is hidden underground and can be found in the most unexpected places. Only eleven percent of the total water consumption goes for domestic use, nineteen percent for industry and agriculture takes up seventy percent.

Hence, ‘water footprint’ helps us understand for what purposes our limited freshwater resources are being consumed and how and to what extent they are being polluted. Smart water use is what this concept helps us achieve and can go a long way in helping us transition towards a sustainable, fair, and efficient use of freshwater resources worldwide. The impact it has to a large extent depends on the degree of water scarcity in the region in which the source of water is present.

Water footprint has three components: green, blue and grey. Together, these components provide an accurate and comprehensive picture of water use and the volume of fresh water required for assimilation of pollutants.

That implies, that informed choices made by us can go a long way. It is important to talk about it as the problem is huge and most of us are yet to realise its gravity. In fact, most of us haven’t even heard the term and those who have hardly realise how central it is to our day-to-day lives. It is quite an interesting subject and traversing through this in-depth study, will surely be a fascinating experience. It will be an eye-opener to say the least. This is a prelude to a series…that will explore and analyse the subject in depth through the series of articles.