‘Everything we use, wear, buy, sell and eat takes water to make’. How can we quantify the overall water quantity involved considering the full production and supply chain? And next, can we improve on this overall ‘water footprint’? This is where NEXUS Footprints comes in, cooperation of Allied Waters with the Water Footprint Network and KWR.
RECOGNIZING THE VALUE OF WATER
Water use is highly connected to many other areas, especially to the energy and food sectors, together the so-called Water – Energy – Food Nexus. The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use. The water footprint looks at both direct and indirect water use, including the whole production and supply chain. The assessment can be made from different perspectives, such as:
A product, e.g. oranges, clothes
A process, e.g. production of green hydrogen
A specific company or sector
A geographical area
The three components of the water footprint – green, blue and grey water – are covering both the quantity of freshwater use and the impact on pollution. The results are expressed depending on the perspective, e.g. in m3 of water required per ton (product) or per business year (company).
What can we do with those numbers? Typically, the water footprint results trigger follow-up questions, like how water-dependent are my operations, how can I reduce my water footprint, and how can I become more sustainable?
NEXUS Footprints offers expertise to tackle these types of questions and help develop proper solutions, which may vary from water saving options, water source management and water reuse options to smart water-energy combinations. Our experts operate in three clusters, (1) Agro and horticulture, (2) Industrial water and (3) Urban environment.
OUR TEAM
The Allied Waters NEXUS Footprints team acts in cooperation with KWR (Bridging Science to Practice | KWR (kwrwater.nl)) and the Water Footprint Network (Home (waterfootprint.org)). Our experts will be happy to support you while calculating the water footprint for a specific case and in developing a response strategy as a follow-up to the results of the water footprint.
