WATER FOOTPRINT

Water footprint is a tool and concept measuring water consumption throughout the development of a product or service. Water footprint calculations could be measured for a single product such as a food product, textile product or construction material. It could also be calculated for organizations as a corporate water footprint.

A product's Direct and Indirect Water Footprint are calculated with the techniques indicated in ISO 14040/44 Life Cycle Assessment standards and requirements. The water consumption produced within the product's life cycle and during the processes of raw material supply, shipping, intermediate products, end-product output, and packaging is taken into account. The product's life cycle process is modeled and calculated with LCA software such as SimaPro, and the results are reported on a product basis.

It could be identified as the direct or indirect water consumption produced in a business or manufacturing site required to conduct its operations. In Corporate Water Footprint calculations, "Direct Water Footprint" calculations are implemented according to the ISO 14046 standard and using the "gate to gate" approach. Corporate Water Footprint is the own responsibility of a business and is the water footprint produced due to the operations it is conducting. Therefore, the water map of the company is created, taking the operational water consumption into account.

In Corporate Water Footprint calculations, the water supply entering the business, location, resource, and the well water, municipal, or rainwater are distilled as accumulation. Their amount of use is measured, they are added to the calculations, and the Blue Water Footprint is calculated.

The wastewater outlets of the business, the amount, and the measurement of pollution concentration of the receiving environment are required for Gray Water Footprint Calculations. After the wastewater is purified in the purification plant, the wastewater is added to the receiving environment, reducing the Gray Water Footprint. Wastewater pollution load measurement, the purification efficiency of the purification plant, and the natural and current pollution concentration of the receiving environment are the required parameters for Gray Water Footprint calculations.

Water footprint calculations are evaluated and calculated within 3 different scopes.

Green Water Footprint: It occurs when the precipitation per unit area is not mixed into underground water and is present on the surface or used by plants.

Blue Water Footprint: It is the concept defining the amount of consumption of the water drawn from underground and surface water resources during evaporation, use in production, and in the event of the water not returning to the resource from which it was drawn.

Gray Water Footprint: Gray Water Footprint is related to the production process and is defined as the degree of clean water pollution resulting from production.

Water footprint calculations enable institutions, companies, cities, governments, and individuals to:
 

• calculate the impact of water consumption on drought and water scarcity in a specific area and/or region
• evaluate their water consumption,
• calculate the water consumption within the supply chain and
• determine a roadmap for the improvement of water consumption and water footprint.
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Different functional units such as m3 water per ton product, m3 water for hectare area, m3 water per unit product could be used in calculations in line with the aim and scope of water footprint calculations. Water footprint calculations help distinguish the reason for the formation of consumed and contaminated water and measure the impact on limited water resources. The impact of water footprint varies depending on the place and time of drawing the water. The impact of 1 m3 of water consumption on drought in a water-scarce region is different from the water ratio consumed in the same amount in other areas.

Water Footprint calculations could be made separately as "Direct Water Footprint" and "Indirect Water Footprint."

Indirect Water Footprint could be defined as the water consumption within the supply chain of the product. Therefore, Water Footprint associates the end consumer, manufacturing company, and businesses with the water consumption in the production cycle. Generally, the amount of water consumed in manufacturing sites or, in other words, the water consumption in the operational processes is much lesser than the water consumption within the supply chain.

In Indirect Water Footprint calculations, the product's water consumption is taken into account both in the manufacturing site and during the processes of raw material supply and the production of the intermediate product.

Water Footprint Calculations and Reportings are implemented following the "ISO 14046 Environmental management -- Water footprint -- Principles, requirements and guidelines" standard and could be verified by the certification bodies upon request.

“Water Footprint Network - The Water Footprint Assessment Manual” is used in Direct Water Footprint calculations as methodology.

Different calculation approaches were developed by various researchers for Indirect Water Footprint calculations. AWARE (Available WAter REmaining) method, Berger et al. 2014 (Water Scarcity) method and Pfister et al. 2009 (Water Scarcity) methods are integrated into LCA programs such as SimaPro. They could be calculated with the Life Cycle Analysis technique.

According to the PCR document in question, direct and Indirect Water Footprint and Water consumption values could be indicated in the EPD Environmental Product Declaration.

As part of the CDP Water Program, companies are directed questions related to their water consumption and the risk evaluation of their impact on the consumption of water resources, and companies are expected to answer these questions.

It is among the CDP Water Program evaluation criteria to check if Water Footprint calculations are implemented according to the accepted standards and methodology. Companies that Calculate and Verify Water Footprint receive a higher rating in the CDP Water Program.