CSEC
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Virtual Water Footprint
Water footprint is basically the volume of water used. It can be defined as the 'volume of freshwater appropriated to produce the product, taking into account the volumes of water consumed and polluted in the different steps of the supply chain'(Water Footprint Network 2018).Individuals or communities consume water directly for cooking, drinking and washing purpose. However, much more water is used indirectly in the process of producing commodities which includes water consumption as well as pollution throughout the supply chain to the end-users. The amount of water used in producing commodities during their entire life cycle is called the virtual water contained within them(Lane 2014). There are three types of water footprints viz. Green, Blue and Grey.
Green water footprint is water from precipitation that is stored in the root zone of soil and evaporated, transpired or incorporated by plants. It is applicable for agriculture, horticulture and forestry products.
Blue water footprint is surface or ground water resources either evaporated or incorporated into a product or taken from one water resources and returned to another. Water consumption by irrigated agriculture, industries and domestic sectors have blue water footprint.
Grey water footprint is the amount of fresh water required to assimilate to reach certain water quality standards. It includes the point source pollution discharge to fresh water or indirect pollution through leaching from soil or other sources.
Table 4 represents virtual water footprints of some essential produces. Each row not only represents the amount of water needed to produce that particular quantity of product (e.g. 200g of banana), but also includes amount of water required to produce as well as transport or process that product. It should be noted that more processed the food more amount of water is required to produce it. Virtual water footprint for individual or a community or a nation largely depends on the type of diets the population have, as per capita consumption of water also varies with the diet. It is also clear from table 4 that moderation of diets, for example reducing meat consumption, can have significant impact on the virtual water use. Moreover, the impact of water footprint also depends of the source of water used for these produces. The impact is much more pronounced and adverse if water is taken from a water scare area than water wealthy area.
Traditionally, the Indian diet uses less processed ingredients and more natural ingredients than that of western countries.But, now particularly in metropolitan areas and among younger generations, this tradition is slowly changing. Many processed and convenience foods are now easily available and foods like pizzas and pasta have become popular. The changing food habits of the Indian population and growing inclination over meat, dairy products and processed food is contributing significantly in the increase in national average of consumption of fat and sugar, and this is definitely going to increase its virtual water footprint.
Table 4 Examples of virtual water footprints of different products (Lane 2014)
| Product (measure) | Water required to produce (lit) |
|---|---|
| Banana (200g) | 160 |
| Bread (1kg) | 1608 |
| Butter (1 kg) | 5550 |
| Cabbage (1kg) | 280 |
| Chicken (1kg) | 4330 |
| Chocolate (1kg) | 17,000 |
| Coffee (1 cup) | 130 |
| Cotton (1 kg fabric) | 10,000 |
| Cucumber (1kg) | 350 |
| Egg ( 1 of 60g) | 200 |
| Leather (bovin, 1kg) | 17,000 |
| Maize (1kg) | 1220 |
| Milk (1l) | 1020 |
| Orange (1 of 150g) | 80 |
| Pizza (1 of 750g, mergherita) | 1260 |
| Pork (1kg) | 5990 |
| Potato (1kg) | 290 |
| Rice (1kg) | 1670 |
| Sheep (1kg) | 10,400 |
| Sugar (1kg, from cane) | 210 |
| Tea (3g in a cup) | 30 |
| Tomato (1 of 250g) | 50 |
| Wine (1 glass, 250ml) | 110 |
| Apple (1 of, 150g) | 125 |