Water footprinting - a tool for managing

supply chain risks

Dr Craig Jones Craig.Jones@CircularEcology.com

@EcoCraigJones

Contents

• Why water?

• Water impacts

• An Introduction to water footprinting

• Where is the impact?

• Summary

Why Water?

Water Footprinting

Is water the next carbon?

“50 percent of the companies

foresee near-term risks (1 to 5

years), with 39 percent currently

experiencing impacts such as

disruption to operations from

drought or flooding, declining

water quality, and increases in

water prices.”

CDP Water Disclosure

“UK industry must show leadership on global

water security. Through their global reach,

businesses must examine their supply chains

and production processes to assess and

reduce their water footprint. This should be a

core component of their corporate and social

responsibility strategies.”

The Royal Academy of Engineering

“Global Water security – An engineering

perspective”

“water issues are already seriously disrupting manufacturing supply chains, and

operational risks will rise...”. “They must first understand their exposure across

geographies and along value (supply) chains and product portfolios”

McKinsey, “The global corporate waterfootprint”

Our Water Resource

There are 1,386 million cubic kilometers (km3) of water on

planet Earth. But a lot of that is saltwater, or locked up in

glaciers and icecaps.

Source: United States Geological Survey

Only 0.01% is

available to use

All the water in

the world looks

like this

Water Impact

Water Footprinting

Impact

23 new steps have been added

to the base of Mexico City’s

Angel of Independence since it

was built in 1910. Why?

Mexico City is reliant on

groundwater for its water supplies

but over-abstraction has drained

the aquifer below the city, causing

the city to subside. The city has

sunk 9 metres in the last century-

about 10cm per year.

Impact

• 2003 drought cost Europe €8.2 billion

• 2007 Barcelona drought cost Catalan economy 1% GDP

• 2011 drought in Texas cost $5.2 billion to the local

economy

• 2012 drought in US pushed up the price of wheat

around the world

Water scarcity is an increasing risk to economies and

supply chains

Introducing Water Footprinting: A tool to

help manage water related risks

Water Footprinting

Water Footprinting

• Water footprinting concept was developed by Prof. Arjen

Hoekstra, University of Twente (Netherlands)

• Water Footprint Manual – Freely available from the

Water Footprint Network (www.waterfootprint.org)

• Consumption based

• Like a carbon footprint

• But quite different to calc.

What is a water footprint?

• A water footprint is separated into 3 classifications of

net water consumption:

Blue Green Grey

Freshwater Rainfall ~ Polluted water

+ +

Water Footprints

• An average bath = ~80 litres

• Shower = ~60 litres

• For comparison:

• 1 cotton t-shirt = 2,700 litres

• 1 kg beef = 16,000 litres

• 1 tonne of gold = 500,000 litres (withdrawal)

International Standards – ISO 14046

• ISO 14046:2014 – Environmental management -

Water footprint - Principles, requirements and

guidelines

• Standard based upon life cycle assessment (LCA)

• Rather than the water footprint manual (water

footprint network - WFN)

• Standards normally take a few years to be picked up

• Most work to date is to WFN method

Local consumption & global supply

chains. Where is the impact?

Water Footprinting

Hotspot Mapping

• A high water consumption isn’t necessarily an

issue by itself

• We need to consider the stress this demand

places on the local water resources

• Supply versus demand

• Hotspot maps overlay water consumption with

local water stress data

• Picture to the right is a dried up river bed

near Coto Doñana National Park in Spain

• Growing strawberries for export

• Places too much stain on the local water

resources

• Strawberries are exported

• So consumed elsewhere

Coto Doñana National Park, Southern Spain

Aral Sea in Central Asia

Aral Sea in Central Asia

1989 2008

• Growing of cotton for export

has placed serious strain on

water resources

• Entire sea has almost

completely dried up

Water Stress Map

Virtual Blue Water Import for EU

Source: Water Footprint Network

Water Footprinting: Exposing

Where the Real Impacts Are

• E.g. Steel cladding used in EU… …could be causing a impact in

India, which has considerable

water shortages

Water Footprints

• Water footprint of a lunch

• Cheese sandwich

• Packet of crisps

• Bottle of cola

• How much water did you just eat?

Water Footprint Summary

Water Footprinting

Summary

• Water footprinting is a tool that reveals water related

risks and impacts in a supply chain

• It shares a name with carbon footprinting

• Although it is quite different than a carbon footprint

• Good to identify supply chain and life cycle hotspots

• Offering transparency and focus

• i.e. Is your process 1% or 50% of the impact?

• Is the water impact local or halfway around the world?

• It can be used to measure, manage and monitor water

related impacts

Thank You for Watching

Craig.Jones@CircularEcology.com

@EcoCraigJones

Water Footprinting