Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Water Footprint Assessment (WFA)'

Water is an irreplaceable resource, covering around two thirds of Earth´s surface, although only one percent is available for use. Except from households, other human activities such as agriculture and industries use water. Water use and pollution can make water unavailable to some users and places already exposed for water scarcity are especially vulnerable for such changes. Increased water use and factors such as climate change make water scarcity to a global concern and to protect the environment and humans it will be necessary to manage this problem. The concept of water footprint was introduced in 2002 as a tool to assess impact from freshwater use. Since then, many methods concerning water use and degradation have been developed and today there are several studies made on water footprint. Still, the majority of these studies only include water use. The aim of this study was to evaluate three different methods due to their ability to calculate water footprint for the production of trucks, with the qualification that the methods should consider both water use and emissions. Three methods were applied on two Volvo factories in Sweden, located in Umeå and Gothenburg. Investigations of water flows in background processes were made as a life cycle assessment in Gabi software. The water flows were thereafter assessed with the H2Oe, the Water Footprint Network and the Ecological scarcity method. The results showed that for the factory in Umeå the water footprint values were 2.62 Mm3 H2Oe, 43.08 Mm3 and 354.7 MEP per 30,000 cabins. The variation in units and values indicates that it is complicated to compare water footprints for products calculated with different methods. The study also showed that the H2Oe and the Ecological scarcity method account for the water scarcity situation. A review of the concordance with the new ISO standard for water footprint was made but none of the methods satisfies all criteria for elementary flows. Comparison between processes at the factories showed that a flocculation chemical gives a larger water footprint for the H2Oe and the Ecological scarcity method, while the water footprint for the WFN method and carbon footprint is larger for electricity. This indicates that environmental impact is considered different depending on method and that a process favorable regarding to climate change not necessarily is beneficial for environmental impact in the perspective of water use.
Vatten är en ovärderlig resurs som täcker cirka två tredjedelar av jordens yta men där endast en procent är tillgänglig för användning. Människan använder vatten till olika ändamål, förutom i hushåll används vatten bland annat inom jordbruk och industrier. Vattenanvändning och utsläpp av föroreningar kan göra vatten otillgängligt, vilket kan vara extra känsligt i de områden där människor redan lider av vattenbrist. Den ökade vattenanvändningen tillsammans med exempelvis klimatförändringar bidrar till att göra vattenbrist till en global angelägenhet och det kommer att krävas åtgärder för att skydda människor och miljö. År 2002 introducerades begreppet vattenfotavtryck som ett verktyg för att bedöma miljöpåverkan från vattenanvändning. Sedan dess har begreppet utvecklats till att inkludera många olika beräkningsmetoder men många av de befintliga studierna har uteslutit föroreningar och bara fokuserat på vattenkonsumtion. Syftet med denna rapport var att utvärdera tre olika metoder med avseende på deras förmåga att beräkna vattenfotavtryck vid produktion av lastbilar, med villkoret att metoderna ska inkludera både vattenkonsumtion och föroreningar. I studien användes tre metoder för att beräkna vattenfotavtrycket för två Volvo fabriker placerade i Umeå och Göteborg. En livscykelanalys utfördes i livscykelanalysverktyget Gabi, för att kartlägga vattenflöden från bakgrundsprocesser. Därefter värderades vattenflödena med metoderna; H2Oe, WFN och Ecological scarcity. Resultatet för fabriken i Umeå gav för respektive metod ett vattenfotavtryck motsvarande 2,62 Mm3 H2Oe, 43,08 Mm3 respektive 354,7 MEP per 30 000 lastbilshytter. Variationen i enheter och storlek tyder på att det kan vara svårt att jämföra vattenfotavtryck för produkter som beräknats med olika metoder. Studien visade att H2Oe och Ecological scarcity tar hänsyn till vattentillgängligheten i området. En granskning av metodernas överensstämmelse med den nya ISO standarden för vattenfotavtryck gjordes men ingen av metoderna i studien uppfyllde alla kriterier. Av de processer som ingår i fabrikerna visade det sig att vattenfotavtrycket för H2Oe och Ecological scarcity metoden var störst för en fällningskemikalie. För den tredje metoden och koldioxid var avtrycket störst för elektriciteten. Detta tyder på att olika metoder värderar miljöpåverkan olika samt att de processer som anses bättre ur miljösynpunkt för klimatförändringar inte nödvändigtvis behöver vara bäst vid vattenanvändning.

Water is an irreplaceable resource and the strain on it is getting tougher. Around 40 per cent of the water withdrawn in Europe is for industrial use. With a growing population and an increased demand for food and energy per capita, the demand and pressure on our water resources will increase. CEEQUAL is a rating scheme for the civil construction industry and has raised the water footprint as an important sustainability issue to consider when choosing building materials. There is however little knowledge within the industry of how to do this. This paper offers information regarding available water footprint tools and gives a practical example using two of the most developed methods; the Water Footprint Network (WFN) method and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The case study showed that the results are very dependent on which method one chooses. The LCA method gives a bigger footprint since it is more inclusive than the WFN method. There are however some similarities when looking at which of the materials that are high-risk and low-risk materials when it comes to freshwater footprint. Among the studied products, steel was the material that uses and consumes the most water per kilogram, and could also be imported from water scarce areas. Fill material had a low water consumption and use per kilogram, but the huge amount used in the project makes it the material that used and consumed most water in total. Fill material is most often produced locally because of the large amount used, and was therefore not as significant when weighting the results by a water stress index. Calculating a water footprint can be used as a part of declaring the environmental performance of a project by including it in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), a sustainability report or by setting up an Environmental Profit and Loss (E P&L) account for water. It can also be used to identify and assess risks related to water use.
Färskvatten är en begränsad, men förnybar resurs som på grund av sina unika egenskaper saknar substitut i många processer och användningsområden. Resursen är ojämnt fördelad över världen och många lever idag i vattenstressade regioner. I Europa står industrisektorn för cirka 40 procent av det totala vattenuttaget. Med en växande befolkning och ökad efterfrågan på mat och energi per capita kommer konkurrensen om vattenresurserna att bli hårdare. Vi måste därför anpassa oss efter denna verklighet och framtid och börja använda våra färskvattenresurser mer effektivt. Certifieringssystemet CEEQUAL har lyft vattenavtryck för byggprodukter som en viktig fråga vid val av material. Inom branschen vet man i dagsläget inte hur man ska hantera den frågan och utgångspunkten för denna rapport är att ge vägledning bland de metoder som finns tillgängliga idag samt att ge ett praktiskt exempel på två av de mest utvecklade metoderna, Water Footprint Network (WFN) metoden och livscykelanalys (LCA). Som ett praktiskt exempel utfördes en fallstudie som visade att resultatet av en vattenavtrycksanalys beror väldigt mycket på vilken metod som väljs, vilket innebär att harmonisering inom branschen är viktigt. LCA-metoden ger ett större avtryck än WFNmetoden då metoden inkluderar fler typer av vattenanvändning. Av de studerade materialen visade sig stål vara det som både använder och förbrukar mest vatten per kilogram. Det är också ett material som i betydande grad importeras från regioner som kan vara vattenstressade. Fyllnadsmaterial var ett av materialen med lägst vattenavtryck per kilogram, men då det används i så stora mängder i anläggningsprojekt är det detta material som bidrar med störst totalt vattenavtryck. På grund av den stora mängd som används utvinns fyllnadsmaterial dock oftast lokalt. Detta gör att vattenavtryckets signifikans minskar när det viktas med ett vattenstressindex, då det generellt finns gott om vatten i Sverige. Vattenavtryck kan användas till deklaration av potentiell påverkan på vattenresurser genom att inkludera resultatet i en miljövarudeklaration eller hållbarhetsrapport. Det kan även användas i ett naturkapitalkonto (E P&L) för vatten eller för att identifiera risker kopplade till vattenanvändning samt ge vägledning vid materialval och val av leverantör.

The white shirt is widely chosen attire by the people for its comfort and aesthetics. With rising population growth and demand for clothing, the production of white cotton shirts will be increased. The production of the white cotton shirt has various environmental impacts and also leads to water scarcity issues. Awareness must be increased with the brands, organisations and consumer about the water scarcity issues. With the help of water footprint analysis it is possible to calculate the water impacts in the supply chain of the product. It is also equally important to calculate the water footprint of the entire LCA of shirt as the use phase plays a prominent role.  The thesis is conducted to understand the water footprint and also assess the water performance for a white cotton shirt. The main purpose of the study is as follows: To find the water footprint impacts for the lifecycle of a white shirt produced and sold  To find the major water hotspots in Textile supply chain while producing a Shirt  A LCA based water footprint assessment is carried out for white shirt. A water scarcity indicator (WSI) is used to calculate the water impacts involved in the lifecycle of the shirt. The thesis is conducted such that there are two cases, namely, case 1 and case 2. Case 1 includes cotton cultivation, fabric manufacturing, distribution and retail, use phase and waste disposal. Case 2 includes fabric manufacturing, distribution and retail, use phase and coproduct in the form of a shirt. In these cases avoided burden approach with allocation method is used to conduct the study. The major WSI hotspots in LCA of the white shirt are cotton cultivation and washing, drying and finishing laundry(in use phase).  A sensitivity analysis is carried out from the results of the thesis, majorly focusing on the identified hotspots and sensitive parts. The WSI impacts on sourcing organic cotton and reducing the wash cycle (in use phase) were identified. From the sensitivity analysis, it was clear that sourcing organic cotton by the company and reducing the wash cycles by the consumer tremendously reduced the WSI and water scarcity issues. Sensitivity analysis also showed that more the shirt is avoided, more benefits is considered. Further research and recommendation are stated based on the result and analysis.
Den vita skjortan är allmänt vald klädsel av folket för sin komfort och estetik. Med ökande befolkningstillväxt och efterfrågan på kläder kommer produktionen av vita bomullströjor att öka. Produktionen av den vita bomullsskjortan har olika miljöpåverkan och leder också till problem med vattenbrist. Medvetenheten måste ökas med varumärkena, organisationerna och konsumenterna om vattenbristen. Med hjälp av analys av vattenavtryck är det möjligt att beräkna vattenpåverkan i produktens försörjningskedja. Det är också lika viktigt att beräkna vattenavtrycket för hela LCA-tröjan eftersom användningsfasen spelar en framträdande roll.  Avhandlingen genomförs för att förstå vattenavtrycket och även bedöma vattenprestanda för en vit bomullsskjorta. Huvudsyftet med studien är följande:  Att hitta effekterna på vattenavtrycket för livscykeln för en vit skjorta som produceras och säljs Att hitta de viktigaste hotspotsna i textilförsörjningskedjan när du producerar en skjorta  En LCA-baserad utvärdering av vattenavtryck utförs för vit skjorta. En vattenbristindikator (WSI) används för att beräkna de vattenpåverkan som är involverade i skjortans livscykel. Avhandlingen genomförs så att det finns två fall, nämligen fall 1 och fall 2. Fall 1 inkluderar bomullsodling, tygtillverkning, distribution och detaljhandel, användningsfas och avfallshantering. Fall 2 omfattar tygtillverkning, distribution och detaljhandel, användningsfas och samprodukt i form av en skjorta. I dessa fall används metod för att undvika bördor med fördelningsmetod för att genomföra studien. De stora WSI-hotspotsna i LCA för den vita skjortan är bomullsodling och tvätt, torkning och efterbehandling av tvätt (i användningsfas).  En känslighetsanalys utförs från avhandlingens resultat med huvudsakligen fokus på identifierade hotspots och känsliga delar. WSI-effekterna på att köpa organisk bomull och minska tvättcykeln (i användningsfas) identifierades. Från känslighetsanalysen var det tydligt att inköp av ekologisk bomull från företaget och minskade tvättcykler av konsumenten kraftigt minskade problem med WSI och vattenbrist. Ytterligare forskning och rekommendation anges baserat på resultat och analys.

Publisher version
One method to inform decisions with respect to sustainable, efficient and equitable water allocation and use is water footprint assessment (WFA). This paper presents a preliminary WFA of South Africa (SA) based on data for the period 1996-2005. Crop production was found to contribute about 75% of the total water footprint of national production. The total water footprint of crop production is mainly composed of five crops: maize, fodder crops, sugarcane, wheat and sunflower seed, which account for 83% of the crop water footprint. The average water footprint of a South African consumer is 1 255 m3/yr, below the world average of 1 385 m3/yr, and is dominated by the consumption of meat (32%) and cereals (29%). About one fifth of this water footprint of consumption is external to SA. While SA is a net virtual water importer, the virtual water trade analysis revealed that a large share of blue water consumption is related to export. Sustainability concerns are that the major river basins face severe blue-water scarcity for extended periods of the year, and that water pollution levels related to nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be unsustainable in all river basins in SA. Efficient allocation and use of water is investigated by means of comparing the consumptive water footprint to global benchmark values, as well as the economic green- and blue-water productivity and the economic land productivity of the crops cultivated in SA. Furthermore, crops with specific potential for biofuel production are assessed. Lastly, recommendations to address the identified issues are given.

Durant l'última dècada, el sector agrícola ha passat de les pràctiques tradicionals a mètodes més intensius per tal d'augmentar la seva productivitat, com a resposta a la creixent demanda d'una població creixent. En conseqüència la producció d'aliments ha desencadenat una important contribució a l'esgotament dels recursos naturals i l'impacte ambiental. Per desenvolupar una gestió ambiental adequada, és essencial per a les indústries de conèixer els principals indicadors ambientals dels seus productes i processos : emissions, consum d’energia i consum d'aigua, generació de residus, eficiència, etc. Tot això pot ajudar als productors a millorar la gestió dels seus sistemes productius, donar un valor ambiental afegit al seu producte, i proporcionar més informació ambiental als consumidors. Tenint en compte que la poma i préssec són dues fruites significatives en els països mediterranis, i que la majoria de les publicacions sobre els impactes ambientals de la producció de fruita es basen en un únic any productiu, aquest estudi intenta realitzar un anàlisi ambiental de la producció de poma i préssec utilitzant amb un enfocament d'Anàlisi del Cicle de Vida (ACV), amb la finalitat de proporcionar nova informació ambiental sobre la fruita, i també introduir una anàlisi des de la perspectiva plurianual per tal d’identificar la variabilitat dels impactes ambientals relacionats amb el rendiment anual d’una plantació, les condicions geogràfiques i climàtiques. Els resultats s'expressen en termes de petjada de carboni i petjada hídrica, per tal de comparar aquests conceptes des d'un punt de vista metodològic, i també informar al sector de les fruita i dels consumidors. La petjada de carboni, quantifica les emissions CO2 equivalents relacionades amb el cicle de vida d'un producte o servei en termes d'escalfament global. La petjada hídrica mesura l'aigua que es consumeix per desenvolupar un producte d'un bé o un servei. Aquest estudi segueix un marc interdisciplinari, tenint en compte les següents etapes en el procés de producció de la fruita: fase agrícola, comercialització, distribució, el consum i disposició final, així com l’obtenció dels materials i substàncies relacionats amb la producció de fruita. Els sistemes estudiats són horts de poma i préssec situats a Catalunya. Les dades utilitzades han estat recollides directament dels horts de la Unitat d'Horticultura Ambiental de l'Institut de Recerca per a l'Agricultura i l'Alimentació i Tecnologia (IRTA), ubicat a la província de Lleida, i abarca entre 9-15 anys de producció real. Aquesta tesi contribueix a detectar els punts crítics de l'impacte ambiental relacionat amb la producció de fruita des d’una perspectiva d'anàlisi del cicle de vida, així com avaluar les metodologies existents per calcular la petjada de carboni i d’aigua, a més de desenvolupar nous aspectes metodològics, i generar noves dades sobre el tema, que seran útils pels productors de fruita i també pels altres actors involucrats en la producció de fruita. Encara que l'estudi demostra que l'ACV és una eina útil per estimar l'impacte associat a un producte o un procés, i també pel càlcul de la petjada de carboni i la petjada hídrica, encara hi ha algunes qüestions per resoldre pel que fa la qualitat de les dades i base de dades disponibles per quantificar l’impacte ambiental, ja que a vegades és necessari treballar amb dades genèriques, que poden generar variabilitat en els resultats.
Durante la última década, el sector agrícola ha pasado de las prácticas tradicionales a métodos más intensivos con el fin de aumentar su productividad, como respuesta a la creciente demanda de una población creciente. En consecuencia la producción de alimentos ha generado una importante contribución al agotamiento de los recursos naturales y el cambio climático. Para desarrollar una gestión ambiental adecuada es esencial para las industrias conocer los principales indicadores ambientales de sus productos y procesos: emisiones, consumo de energía y agua, generación de residuos, eficiencia, etc. Conocer esta información puede ayudar a los productores a mejorar la gestión de sus sistemas productivos, dar un valor ambiental añadido a sus productos, y también proporcionar más información a los consumidores. Teniendo en cuenta que la manzana y melocotón son dos frutas significativas en los países mediterráneos, y la mayoría de las publicaciones sobre los impactos ambientales de la produccion de fruta se basan en un año productivo único, este estudio pretende realizar un análisis ambiental de la producción de manzana y melocotón utilizando la metodología del Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), con el fin de proporcionar nueva información ambiental sobre la fruta, y también introducir un análisis de la perspectiva plurianual para identificar la variabilidad de los impactos ambientales relacionados con el rendimiento anual de las plantaciones, las condiciones geográficas y climáticas. Los resultados se expresarán en términos de huella de carbono y de agua, con el fin de comparar estos conceptos desde un punto de vista metodológico, y que para que la información pueda servir para informar sector de la fruta y de los consumidores. La huella de carbono cuantifica las emisiones de CO2 equivalentes relacionadas con el ciclo de vida de un producto o servicio en términos de calentamiento global. La huella hídrica cuantifica el agua que se consume para desarrollar un producto de un bien o un servicio. Este estudio sigue un marco interdisciplinario, teniendo en cuenta las siguientes etapas en el proceso de producción de la fruta: fase agrícola, distribución, consumo, residuos, así como el sistema relacionado con los materiales y sustancias relacionados con la producción de fruta. Los sistemas estudiados son huertos de manzano y melocotón situados en Cataluña. Los datos utilizados han sido recogidos directamente de un huerto de la Unidad de Horticultura Ambiental en el Instituto de Investigación para la Agricultura y la Alimentación y Tecnología (IRTA), ubicado en la provincia de Lleida en el noreste de España, el estudio abarca entre 9-15 años de producción real. Esta tesis contribuye a detectar los puntos críticos del impacto ambiental relacionados con la producción de fruta con una perspectiva de ACV, así como evaluar las ventajas y debilidades de las metodologías existentes para calcular la huella de carbono y huella de agua, además de desarrollar nuevos aspectos metodológicos y la generación de nuevos datos sobre el tema para los productores de frutas y otros actores involucrados en ciclo de producción de fruta. Aunque el estudio demuestra que el ACV es una herramienta útil para estimar el impacto asociado a un producto o proceso y para el cálculo de los indicadores huella de carbono i huella hídrica, existen todavía algunas cuestiones por resolver en cuanto a la calidad de las bases de datos de impacto ambiental y los datos disponibles, porque a veces, es necesario trabajar con datos genéricos.
During the last decade, the agricultural sector has changed from traditional practices to more intensive methods in order to increase their productivity, as a response to the growing demand of an increasing population. Consequently food production has become an important contribution to the depletion of natural resources and climate change. To develop a proper environmental management it is essential for industries to know the main environmental indicators of their products and production processes: emissions, energy and water consumption, waste generation, efficiency, etc. It also can help producers to improve their production system management, give an added environmental value to their product, and provide more information to consumers. Considering that apple and peach are two significant fruits in the Mediterranean countries, and most publications on environmental impacts of fruit productions are based on one single productive year, this study attempts to perform an environmental analysis of apple and peach production using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, in order to provide new environmental information of fruit, and also introduce a multiyear perspective analysis to identify the variability of the environmental impacts related to annual orchard yield, geographic and climatic conditions. The results will be expressed in terms of Carbon footprint (CF) and Water Footprint (WF) terms, In order to compare these concepts from a methodological point of view, and how those can be introduced to inform fruit sector and the consumers. The CF measures the emissions of CO2eq related with the life cycle of a product or services in terms of Global warming. WF measures the water consumed to develop a product a good or a service in terms of litres. This study follows an interdisciplinary framework, considering the following stages in the process of fruit production: agricultural stages, retail, consumption ad disposal, as well as the back-ground system related with materials and substances production. The systems studied are apple and peach orchards located in Catalonia. Data used have been collected directly from an orchard of the Environmental Horticulture Unit at the Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (IRTA) located in the North East of Spain, and covers between 9-15 years of real production. This dissertation contributes to detect the hot spots of the environmental impact related to fruit production with a perspective of LCA, as well as evaluate the advantages and weakness the existing methodologies to calculate the Carbon and water Footprints, besides developing methodological aspects and generating new data on the topic and fruit producers and all the actors involved in fruit production. Although the study demonstrates that LCA is a useful tool for estimating the impact associated with a product or process and calculate the CF and WF indicators, there are still some issues to be resolved regarding to the quality of environmental impact databases and data available because sometimes, it is needed to work with generic data, and it can generate variability in the results.

La produzione globale di cibo provoca impatti sia sull’ ambiente che sulla salute umana. Tra le molteplici sfide che la comunità globale deve affrontare, le risorse di acqua dolce della Terra sono state identificate come pericolosamente soggette a una crescente pressione sia in termini quantitativi che qualitativi. Una profonda comprensione del nesso acqua-cibo è pertanto cruciale per lo sviluppo sostenibile. Nella presente tesi è stato applicato il concetto di Water Footprint (WF) calcolata attraverso differenti metodologie – ovvero attraverso approcci di tipo volumetrico e per la quantificazione dei potenziali impatti – al fine di stimare gli impatti sul consumo di acqua conseguenti produzione e consumo di cibo. Per valutare diverse tecniche di produzione, sono state confrontate le prestazioni ambientali di due vigneti coltivati con metodi di agricoltura convenzionale e biologica. Inoltre, sono stati studiati gli impatti sulle risorse idriche in relazione a diversi scenari di consumo alimentare in Italia e Danimarca, per indagare come le scelte alimentari dei consumatori rappresentino una strategia di riduzione degli impatti sull’ acqua. Nel calcolo degli impatti ambientali, i risultati hanno evidenziato il ruolo chiave dell'origine dei prodotti alimentari consumati, insieme alla tipologia dei prodotti e la riduzione di sprechi alimentari.
Global food production has increasingly affected both the environment and human health in substantial and remarkable ways. Among the many concerns global community has to face, Earth’s freshwater resources have been identified as dangerously subject to increasing pressure in the form of consumptive water use and pollution. A deep understanding of the water-food nexus is crucial to support the exploration of more suitable avenues for a sustainable development. In this work, the concept of water footprint (WF) presented by different methodologies – volumetric and impacts oriented approach – has been applied to link impacts on water consumption to the food production and consumption. With regard to the study of the production side, comparison of environmental performances of two vineyard where conventional and organic viticulture were applied, has been performed. Additionally, impacts on water resources related to different Italian and Danish dietary patterns have been investigated to understand the positive impacts that demand-side solutions can have. The studies highlighted that the origin of consumed foodstuffs played a key role in the calculation of local environmental impacts. Finally, the analysis showed that consumer’s choices could tackle environmental impact on water use by changing their consumption patterns, selecting less water-demanding products and reducing food waste.

Global trade and increasing food demand are important drivers of impacts in the water system across scales. This study coupled a spatially-explicit physical account of trade between Brazilian municipalities with a water footprint accounting model, in order to analyse water footprints of Brazilian soy produced for domestic and international consumption, and assess their relevance in the context of water scarcity and competing demands for water resources. The water footprints of Brazilian soy production were assessed for different levels of spatial-explicitness for comparison. The Swedish water footprints were analysed within this framework to illustrate the use of the methodology. As a result, temporal and geographical patterns of variability of water the footprints related to Brazilian soy production, attributed to different consumers in the global market, were identified. The study found the methodology to unveil important processes connected to economic and trade drivers, as well as to variability in climate and production yields. It was found that important regional variability was not considered or fully understood when accounting for water footprints as a national aggregate. Opportunities for improvement and further research were also discussed.

A water footprint is a tool for assessing the impacts of freshwater use by mapping the water use of the production of a good or a service, a process in a production chain, a business or even of a whole country. One of the most commonly used methods for calculating the water footprint was developed by the Water Footprint Network (WFN). The objective of this study was to account for the water footprint of the production of coffee in the area of Miraflor, Nicaragua, using the WFN method. The study aimed to highlight where improvements can be made regarding water resources management, both with respect to the quantity of the water appropriated in the different process steps, as well as concerning the treatment of residues of the coffee production. The results of the study show a water footprint of 20 049 m3 per ton of harvested coffee in Miraflor. This equals a consumption of more than 6 000 000 m3 of water when considering the overall production of the harvest of 2015/2016. The results pinpoint the growing phase as crucial with 98.1 % of the total water footprint. Nicaragua and the region where Miraflor is located are having increasing problems with water scarcity due to drought and contamination of water resources. Together with these circumstances, the results of the study show that the current management should be improved in order to minimize the impacts on local water resources and the environment. It is mainly the application of pesticides and fertilizers in the cultivation of the coffee that give rise to the large water footprint. Furthermore, the current management violates the law restricting the discharge of effluent waters from coffee processing plants. Another important factor contributing to the water footprint yields in the consumption of rainwater via evapotranspiration by the crops in field. In order to reduce the water footprint there should be a more conscious use of pesticides and fertilizers as well as a development in the treatment of the effluent water. The latter factor can be elaborated by considering new installations where even smaller ones probably could make a considerable change. Other management practices to decrease the water footprint consist of generating a higher yield per hectare of land.
Vattenfotavtryck är ett verktyg för att bedöma miljöpåverkan från användningen av vatten. Med ett vattenfotavtryck kartläggs hur vatten används för produktionen av en vara, för en process i en produktionskedja, ett företag eller för ett helt land. En av de mest använda metoderna för beräkning av vattenfotavtryck utvecklades av Water Footprint Network (WFN). Syftet med denna studie var att genom användning av WFN:s metod beräkna vattenfotavtrycket för produktionen av kaffe i området Miraflor i Nicaragua. Studien ämnade visa var förbättringar kan göras i vattenresurshanteringen, både vad gäller mängden vatten som används i de olika produktionsstegen som i behandlingen av restvattnet från kaffeproduktionen. Resultatet från studien visar ett vattenfotavtryck på 20 049 m3 per ton skördat kaffe i Miraflor. Sett till hela skörden för säsongen 2015/2016 ger detta ger en total konsumtion av mer än 6 000 000 m3 vatten. Resultatet påvisar att vegetationsperioden är den i särklass största bidragande faktorn till kaffeproduktionens vattenfotavtryck med 98,1 % av det totala avtrycket. Nicaragua och regionen där Miraflor ligger har alltjämt ökande problem med vattenbrist på grund av torka och föroreningar av vattenresurser. Studiens resultat visar tillsammans med denna bakgrund att nuvarande tekniker i kaffeproduktionen i Miraflor bör förbättras för att minimera konsekvenser för lokala vattenresurser och miljön. Främst är det användningen av bekämpningsmedel och gödsel som ger upphov till det stora vattenfotavtrycket. Kaffeproduktionen orsakar därtill överträdelser av gällande bestämmelser om värden på vattenkvalitetsparameterar i restvatten från kaffeproduktion. En ytterligare betydande faktor för vattenfotavtrycket som påvisas i studien är konsumtionen av regnvatten via evapotranspiration från grödorna i fält. För att minska vattenfotavtrycket bör i första hand en mer medveten användning av bekämpningsmedel och gödsel införas. Därtill bör det ske en förbättring i hanteringen av utsläppsvatten. Den senare faktorn kan utvecklas genom att nya installationer införs där även mindre sådana troligtvis skulle ge en betydande skillnad. Andra metoder för att minska vattenfotavtrycket ligger i att generera en högre skörd per hektar land.

This thesis has established models of water footprint in the Eco-industrial Park. The model was presented in three different levels, namely the level of Eco-industrial Park, the level of enterprises and the level of products. There are two parts of each model. The first part is the schema tization of different components of the water footprint. The second part is the mathematical model of water footprint counting.   After the models, we made several case studies using these m odels established in this thesis. The first case is the water footprint assessment of the Yixing Economic Development Zone (YEDZ). There are water footprints of the YEDZ in the year of 2009, 2012 and 2015 separately, which are 6787613.6 10 × m3,  61110018 10 × m3 and 62413749 10 ×  m3. Considering the different scales of the YE DZ, for example, the increasing industrial production and economic development, we also make the water footprints per capital of the YEDZ in the year of 2009, 2012 and 2015. The results are 19690.34 ×103m3/capita, 24667.07 ×103m3/capita and 48274.98 ×103m3/capita.  In the level of Eco-industrial Park,  we take several enterprises as case studies. The enterprises are within different types of industries including Chemical industry, Textile and dye ing industry, Optoelectronic industry, and Mechanical, Photovoltaic industry and machinery manufacture industry, etc. These enterprises are investigated by surveys and statistical documents. From  the results, we can see that the enterprises with big footprint are mostly in Chemical industry, Textile and  dyeing industry and Photovoltaic industry.  In order to make the data more reasonable, we also calculated the water footprint per unit out-put value. What’s interesting, the enterprises in Chemical industry, Textile and dyeing industry and Photovoltaic industry also have big water footprint per unit out-put value.  In the level of product, we take the surfactants produced by Jiangsu Guanyang Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. This enterprise has moved to a new place and made some improvement in the production. On one hand, they have increased the scale of production for three times than before; on the other hand they have adopted a lot of water saving facilities and measures, such as the use of rain wa ter, the increase of water recycling and the involvement of water cascade utilization. So in this thesis, we comp ared the water footprint of surfactants before and after moving. The Water Footprint of surfactants per year before moving is 22914.8(m3), after moving is 56804.4 (m3). However, the Water Footprint of surfactants before moving  is  2.52 (m3/t), while after moving is 2.08 (m3/t).  Finally, we gave some response options after the analysis and discussion of the results. The suggestions are given in three levels as well. The first one is to the gov ernment or so-called policy makers; the second one is to the enterprises; the third one is to the staff members in the Yixing Economic Development Zone.

Maintenir la qualité des ressources en eau est l'un des défis majeurs auxquels la société d’aujourd’hui doit faire face. Il est donc primordial que ce critère soit intégré correctement dans les méthodes d’analyse d’impacts environnementaux, tel que l’Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV). Cependant, l’estimation de la qualité de l’eau et la manière dont cette information est utilisée dans les modèles d’évaluation d’impacts soulève un certain nombre de challenges méthodologiques, d’où la problématique de recherche : « Comment considérer la qualité de l’eau dans l’évaluation des impacts de l’utilisation de l’eau en ACV, de l’inventaire aux Aires de Protection ? ». Ce travail de thèse propose dans un premier temps une étude approfondie du rôle et de la nécessité de l’information « qualité de l’eau » dans l’évaluation des impacts de plusieurs type d’utilisation d’eau (usage consommatif, dégradatif et amélioration de la qualité). Cette étude s’applique aux différentes chaines de causalité de manière mécanistique, jusqu’aux trois Aires de Protection (AoP) santé humaine, qualité des écosystèmes et ressources naturelles. Afin d’améliorer la compréhension et la considération des impacts de l’utilisation de l’eau sur l’AoP ressources naturelles, un cadre théorique consensuel élaboré en collaboration avec WULCA (le groupe Water Use in LCA, de l’UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative) est défini. Ce cadre fournit une base solide pour l’élaboration cohérente de méthodes d’analyse d’impacts, permettant d’évaluer la diminution irréversible de la disponibilité physique de l'eau douce et/ou de son degré d'utilisabilité pour les générations futures. La thèse se conclut par le développement d’un modèle de caractérisation d’impacts de la dégradation des ressources en eau causée par des émissions. Des facteurs de caractérisation sont calculés pour cinq métaux, au niveau midpoint. L’application de ces indicateurs permet d’améliorer l’interprétabilité des résultats concernant les défis futurs liés aux ressources en eau ainsi que les résultats des impacts sur la santé humaine liés aux problèmes de qualité d’eau
Maintaining the quality of water resources is one of the major challenges society faces today. It is therefore essential that this criterion be properly integrated into environmental impact assessment methods, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, the estimation of water quality and how this information is used in impact assessment models raises a number of methodological challenges; hence, the general research question is “How to consider water quality in water use impact assessment in LCA, from inventory to Areas of Protection?” This thesis first provides a detailed study about the role and necessity of "water quality" information in assessing impacts of different types of water use (consumptive and degradative use, as well as quality improvement). This study applies to the different cause-effect chains in a mechanistic way, in view of the three Areas of Protection (AoP) human health, ecosystem quality and natural resources. In order to improve the understanding and consideration of the water use impacts on the AoP natural resources, a consensual framework, developed jointly with WULCA (Water Use in LCA group of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative), is presented. This framework provides a solid basis for the consistent development of impact characterization models to assess the irreversible reduction in physical availability of freshwater and its quality-based usability for future generations. The thesis ends with the development of a characterization model for water resource degradation impacts caused by emissions. Characterization factors are calculated for five metals at the midpoint level. The application of these indicators improves the interpretability of LCA results regarding future water resource challenges and water-quality related impacts on human health

Problémy s vodou, zejména její nedostatek a znečištění, ovlivňují každodenní lidský život a hospodářský vývoj. Globální změny klimatu zvyšují pravděpodobnost a četnost extrémních událostí jako jsou sucho a záplavy. Rostoucí problémy s nepravidelnou dostupností a znečištěním vody vyžadují pokročilejší metodiky hodnocení vodních zdrojů, které povedou k efektivnímu využití a hospodaření s vodou. Tato práce se zabývá rozšířenými metodikami pro hodnocení vody z pohledu její kvality a kvantity a pro hodnocení spotřeby energie a produkce emisí souvisejících s vodou. Tři hlavní metodiky jsou navrženy na základě konceptu vodní stopy (Water Footprint) a pinch analýzy vody (Water Pinch Analysis) pro posouzení kvantitativních a kvalitativních hledisek využití a spotřeby vody. Použití těchto metod je rovněž demonstrováno pomocí numerických a empirických případových studií zaměřených na hodnocení a optimalizaci využití regionálních a průmyslových vodních zdrojůDále jsou diskutovány souvislosti mezi vodou a energií (Water-Energy Nexus) za účelem analýzy problémů týkající se vody z širší perspektivy. Z pohledu vody a vodních zdrojů je provedeno počáteční zhodnocení energetické náročnosti a produkce emisí skleníkových plynů v problematice odsolování mořské vody. Výsledky prezentované v této práci navazují na současné metodiky hodnocení vodních zdrojů. Stopa dostupnosti vody (Water Availability Footprint) byla navržena pro zohlednění dopadu degradace kvality vody ve stávajících postupech pro posuzování nedostatku vody, ve kterých nebyla dříve řešena. Druhým přínosem této práce je návrh konceptu kvantitativní-kvalitativní vodní stopy (Quantitative-Qualitative Water Footprint - QQWFP), ve kterém je definována vodní stopa z pohledu nákladů a následně je stanovena v souvislosti s celkovými náklady na spotřebu vody a odstraňování kontaminantů, které se do vody dostávají v průběhu jejího využití. Vodní stopa založená na nákladech poskytuje výsledky, které jsou intuitivnější jak pro management vodních zdrojů tak i pro veřejnost. Tento přístup umožňuje lépe kontrolovat a řídit průmyslové a regionální využívání a správu vody. Třetím přínosem této práce je rozšíření pinch analýzy nedostatku vody (Water Scarcity Pinch Analysis - WSPA), ve které je aplikována pinch analýzy vody na makroúrovni se zaměřením na regionální hodnocení a optimalizaci zdrojů a využívání vody. Všechny tři navržené metody jsou zaměřeny na stanovení dopadů využití vody z hlediska jejího množství a kvality, analýzy QQWFP a WSPA také pokrývají dopady vícečetných kontaminantů. Kromě hledání řešení se tato práce také pokouší naznačit potenciální směry pro budoucí výzkum v dané oblasti. Mezi významná potenciální témata k diskuzi patří 1) pokročilejší metoda kvantifikace vlivu více kontaminantů a 2) implementace a analýza ekonomické proveditelnosti přístupů WSPA a QQWFP s lokalizovanými daty s cílem nalézt přizpůsobené řešení pro optimální využití regionální a průmyslové vody.

Water scarcity continues to pose a threat to South Africa, with severe water scarcity predicted within the next fifty years. As a result, national interest has been sparked over the development of market based water resource allocation strategies to alleviate pressures on South Africa's freshwater resources, and ensure compliance with the National Water Act. Agriculture is the largest water user internationally and within South Africa, highlighting the importance of improving the water use efficiency within the industry. This study performed a full water footprint assessment (WFA) of a dryland pasture based dairy enterprise in the Eastern Cape. Following the guidelines of the WFA, this study calculated the blue, green and grey water footprints of dryland pasture based dairy production from crop- to-farm gate by assessing the water footprints of pasture production, bought in feed and concentrates, drinking water and servicing water processes over a period of five years. Following the accounting the of the water footprint, economic and environmental sustainability indicators were used along with the incorporation of the Water Risk Filter tool. This revealed that the case study farm was operating efficiently with the enterprise's highest water related risk being governmental regulation. Water footprint accounting results highlighted that green water was largest contributor to the overall water footprint of over 80%, and grey water contributed the least to the water footprint of dryland pasture based dairy production. Economic productivity results indicated that milk production is highly correlated with annual rainfall due to the breeding strategy undertaken by the farm. Results also indicated little correlation between the monthly water footprint and milk production, with the majority of the enterprise's milk production occurring in the last quarter regardless of the water footprint. The study demonstrated the relationship between the water footprint and economic land and water productivity, along with the value of milk to costs ratio which indicated that approximately R1.00 worth of costs generates between R1.80 and R2.06 value of milk. The sustainability indicators suggested that the farm's management of its effluent dam requires attention to meet the Department of Water and Sanitations effluent waste quality guidelines. The overall analysis of the water footprint suggested that the highest water related risk to dryland dairy production was regulatory risk. This risk suggests that the government cannot be relied upon for the management of freshwater resources within the study area, leaving the onus on the individual dairy farmers. As such, farmers should utilise the water footprint to formulate water stewardship programmes which have the potential to influence the regulation and protection of freshwater resources.

Vatten är en nödvändig resurs för allt liv på jorden. Med en ökande befolkningsmängd förväntas även sötvattenanvändningen att öka, vilket ställer krav på att hanteringen av de vattenresurser som finns sker på ett hållbart sätt. Jordbrukssektorn är i dagsläget den största konsumenten av vatten, varpå det är viktigt att uppmärksamma konsumenter om vattenanvändning vid produktion av livsmedel så att kunskapen ökar kring hur vatten används idag. Ett verktyg för att bedöma miljöpåverkan från vattenanvändning är det så kallade vattenfotavtrycket. De senaste åren har flera beräkningsmetoder tillkommit för att beräkna vattenfotavtryck, och dessa tar hänsyn till olika aspekter. Syftet med denna studie var att utvärdera tre sådana metoder och använda dem för att beräkna vattenfotavtrycket för ett antal livsmedel, jämföra resultatet och slutligen ta fram en rekommendation kring vilken eller vilka metoder som lämpar sig för konsumentvägledning. De metoder som undersöktes var TOTAL som är en metod av Water Footprint Network (WFN), metoden WSI och metoden AWARE. Resultatet visade att vissa nötter fick särskilt högt vattenfotavtryck oavsett vilken metod som användes, för exempelvis mandlar erhölls med respektive metod ett vattenfotavtryck motsvarande 15 m3 vatten/kg, 3,3 m3 WSI-H2O-ekvivalenter/kg samt 165 m3 AWARE-H2O-ekvivalenter/kg. Att resultaten har olika enheter samt storleksordningar beror på att metoderna är olika uppbyggda. Generellt fick baljväxter, spannmål samt frukt och grönt låga resultat, dock varierade resultaten något beroende på vilken metod som användes. Detta beror bland annat på att endast WSI och AWARE tar hänsyn till hur den lokala vattensituationen ser ut där vattnet används. Vid jämförelse av metoderna ansågs både metoden TOTAL samt AWARE vara lämpliga att använda för konsumentvägledning då den förstnämnda är väl beprövad samt lättförstådd medan den sistnämnda är en uppdaterad indikator som tar hänsyn till lokal vattenbrist.
Water is a vital resource for all life on earth. With an increasing population, the use of freshwater is also expected to increase, which requires a sustainable management of existing water resources. The agricultural sector is currently the largest consumer of water, and it is important to pay attention to consumers about water use in food production so that knowledge is increasing about how water is used today. The so-called water footprint is a tool for assessing the amount of water used to produce a good or a service. In recent years, several calculation methods have been added to calculate water footprints, and these take into account various aspects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate three such methods and use them to calculate the water footprint for a number of foods, compare the results and finally give a recommendation on which method or methods that are best suited for consumer guidance. The assessed methods were TOTAL by Water Footprint Network (WFN), the WSI method and the AWARE method. The results showed that some nuts had a particularly high water footprint regardless of the method used. Almonds, for example, obtained with each method a water footprint corresponding to 15 m3 water/kg, 3.3 m3 WSI-H2O-equivalents/kg and 165 m3 AWARE-H2O-equivalents/kg. The fact that the results have different units and orders of magnitude is because the different structure of the methods. Generally, legumes, cereals and fruits and vegetables had low water footprints, but the results varied somewhat depending on the method used. This is partly due to the fact that only WSI and AWARE take into account how the water situations looks where the water is used. When comparing the methods, both TOTAL and AWARE were considered suitable for use for consumer guidance, since the former is well-proven and easily understood while the latter is an updated indicator that takes local water shortage into account.

With the current implementation of the South African National Water Act (NWA) underway, comprehensive tools to assist in the efficient, fair and sustainable management of water resources are needed. Water footprints (WFs) are increasingly being recognised as a meaningful way to represent human appropriation of water resources and provide a framework for assessing the sustainability of water use. The study calculated blue, green and grey WFs for the lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV) citrus sector across dry, humid and long-term average climates for a number of cultivars. The sustainability of both the LSRV and the production process of citrus were examined through the adoption of a number of environmental, social and economic indicators. The study revealed that there was no water scarcity in the area because of an inter-basin transfer and that water pollution levels attributed to citrus production required a more comprehensive indicator than the grey WF. Results showed that navels, despite being the dominant cultivar, had the highest WF and the lowest water productivity and technical efficiency. It also provided lower benefits of income and employment in terms of water use in comparison to other cultivars. Conversely, cultivars such as lemons, which required a greater amount of water and fertiliser, were the most productive cultivar with the lowest blue, green and grey WF. The study demonstrated the complexity of decisions regarding water management and the need to assess accurately the environmental, social and economic implications of strategies to increase efficiency of water. The importance of incorporating local data and verifying WFs was also illustrated. The analysis highlighted that WF assessments could be useful for the South African government and agricultural sectors to assist in future water management decisions and promote increased collaboration between stakeholders. The study found that the adoption of local benchmarks could be useful in aiding the promotion of more efficient water use and could factor in sensitive economic and social attributes. WFs in conjunction with other economic and social indicators could also be used to evaluate the sustainability of current and future allocations pertaining to the implementation of the NWA. It was however noted that this requires vast amounts of accurate data.

The commercial production of beef meat is associated with a wide array of environmental impacts, and is itself very sensitive to environmental conditions. Water in particular is a critical environmental resource and the commercial success of an agri-business is closely tied to reliance on fresh water resources. In an economic sector that is increasingly faced with competition for resources as well as negative public opinion about environmental impacts, the management of water-related risks and impacts is essential to ensure business resilience and sustainability. Global trends in animal production are causing the environmental problems to become more harmful, and intensive animal production is being separated from traditional crop farming systems where manure could be used as a fertilizer to replenish soil nutrients. There is a spatial disconnect in the production value chain brought about by commercial trends. An on-site water efficiency approach to water resources management of an agri-business does not enable it to evaluate value chain water-related risks, or its' own contribution to sustainable water use in the catchments where raw materials are produced and production wastes are distributed. The question of sustainable water use within the production value chain of beef meat is not solved with an on-site efficiency approach to water resources management because the approach is inadequate in evaluating the freshwater environmental impact, or in managing water-related business risks of the whole beef production value chain. It is argued that a systems approach is more credible because it allows a beef cattle feedlot enterprise to evaluate freshwater impacts across the production value chain and will enable a feedlot to transition towards a sustainable value chain water resources management model The Water Footprint of food, goods and services is a volumetric expression of the water that is consumed during the production process. Unlike water use, the water footprint refers to water that is imbedded into a product (also referred to as virtual water) or otherwise made unavailable for further use within a catchment, province or country through pollution dilution. The Water Footprint Network developed the Water Footprint Assessment and describes three types of WF: the green water footprint refers to evaporated water, typically in the form of rainwater. The blue water footprint refers to water that is abstracted from a resource and delivered to the point of use, for example in the case of irrigation from a river, borehole or dam. The grey water footprint is a volumetric expression of the amount of fresh water required to dilute chemical substances to a safe or acceptable concentration in the natural environment. A Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) was undertaken at a beef cattle feedlot in Gauteng, South Africa. The WFA focused on the Bovine WF of the 4-month winter- and summer finishing periods that cattle spend at the feedlot. The second focus was on the monthly grey WF of waste management activities at the feedlot. The purpose of the study was to determine how the application of a WFA would enable an agri-business to transition from an on-site approach to water resources management, to a value-chain systems approach to sustainable water resource management.

This study assesses the primary drivers of CO2e footprint for three types of water damage resolution methods and identifies relevant focus areas to support a reduced environmental footprint from water damage restoration. To face the global challenge of climate change, mitigation actions need to be taken on a broad level, with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings being a key part. Although the number of environmental assessments of buildings is increasing, there is a lack of scientific literature quantifying the CO2e footprint of water damages, which makes it difficult for stakeholders in the industry to make sound decisions in order to combat climate change. In particular, this relates to the various methods that can be applied to resolve water damages. Therefore, this study conducts an attributional life cycle assessment of the CO2e footprint of three actual water damages, resolved using different methods requiring various degrees of material replacement. The study finds that both the total CO2e footprint and its main drivers vary significantly depending on the selected method. It further finds that the choice of method is crucial in order to reduce the CO2e footprint from water damage restoration, more specifically that a higher degree of material reuse, enabled by drying of damaged materials, appears to be preferred where applicable.
Denna studie undersöker de huvudsakliga faktorerna som påverkar det koldioxidavtryck som kan kopplas till tre typer av hanteringsmetoder av vattenskador, samt identifierar relevanta områden att fokusera på för att minska den miljömässiga effekten från vattenskadehantering. Flertalet åtgärder behöver genomföras för att möta utmaningen med klimatförändringar, och att minska växthusgaser kopplade till byggnader är att anse som en viktig del av detta. Trots att antalet miljöstudier relaterade till byggnader ökar är antalet vetenskapliga studier kopplade till CO2e från vattenskador begränsat, vilket gör det svårt för intressenter i industrin att fatta välgrundade beslut. I synnerhet är detta relaterat till de olika metoder som kan användas för att hantera skadorna. Av den anledningen genomför denna studie en livscykelanalys med bokföringsmetodik för att undersöka koldioxidavtrycket från tre faktiska vattenskador. Dessa har åtgärdats med olika hanteringssmetoder vilket medför en variation i den mängd material som behöver bytas ut. Studien konstaterar att både det totala avtrycket samt de huvudsakliga drivarna varierar betydligt beroende på vilken metod som använts. Vidare konstateras att valet av metod är avgörande för att kunna minska mängden CO2e från vattenskadehantering, mer specifikt att en högre grad av materialåteranvädning, möjliggjort av torkning av skadade delar, förefaller vara att föredra när det är tillämpbart.

La gestion intégrée de l'eau à l'échelle des grandes villes est un réel défi. Cependant, la quantification des flux et des impacts environnementaux liés à l'utilisation de l'eau n'est pas encore suffisamment développée. Dans ce contexte, la question de recherche de la thèse est: "comment modéliser le système d'eau urbain complexe d'une mégapole pour l'évaluation de ses impacts sur l'environnement et des services fournis aux usagers de l'eau, dans le cadre de l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV)?" Le cœur de la thèse est le développement d'un cadre général définissant les flux d'eau et les impacts environnementaux associés aux trois composants principaux du système d'eau urbain, à savoir, les technologies de l'eau, les usagers de l'eau et les ressources en eau. Le modèle proposé de système d'eau urbain (nommé WaLA) se construit à travers une approche modulaire permettant l'interopérabilité des trois composants. Le modèle fournit des indicateurs d'impacts et de services rendus qui peuvent être utiles aux décideurs et aux parties prenantes. Il simplifie l'évaluation des scénarios et diminue la complexité du système tout en assurant sa bonne représentation du point de vue de l'ACV. En plus de cet objectif principal, la thèse vise à raffiner les indicateurs d'impact sur la privation d'eau afin qu'ils soient pertinents pour les systèmes d'eau urbains. Une méthode qui permet d'évaluer la privation d'eau à l'échelle du sous bassin versant en intégrant les effets en aval a ainsi été développée. Cette méthode permet de différencier les impacts selon les points de prélèvements et de rejets dans un même bassin versant. Enfin, le modèle WaLA et les indicateurs associés sont mis en œuvre pour évaluer les impacts environnementaux du système d'eau urbain de la banlieue parisienne (périmètre du Syndicat des Eaux d'Ile-de-France). L'intérêt et l'applicabilité du modèle pour évaluer et comparer des scénarios actuels et prévisionnels sont ainsi démontrés
To improve water management at the scale of large cities is a real challenge. However, the quantification of flows and environmental impacts linked to water use are not yet sufficiently developed. This is the objective of the thesis: “how to model complex urban water system of a megacity for assessing its environmental impacts in relation to the provided services to water users, within the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework?” The core of the thesis is the development of a generic framework defining water flows and environmental impacts associated with 3 categories of items – i.e., water technologies, water users and water resources – from a LCA point of view. The UWS model (termed WaLA) is built through a modular approach allowing the interoperation of these three components in an integrated way. The model provides indicators of impacts on services which may be useful to decision makers and stakeholders. It simplifies the evaluation of forecasting scenarios and decreases the complexity of the urban water system while ensuring its good representation from a LCA perspective. In addition to this main objective, the thesis also aims at refining water use impact indicators at a relevant scale for UWS. A methodology that assesses water deprivation at the sub-river basin scale in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) integrating downstream cascade effects has been developed. It allows differentiating the withdrawal and release locations within a same river basin. The WaLA model and its associated indicators are applied to assess the environmental impacts of the water system of a Paris suburban area (perimeter of Syndicat des Eaux d'Île-de-France). It shows the interest and the applicability of the model for assessing and comparing baseline and forecasting scenarios

Water and wastewater treatment is a critical service provided for protecting human health and the environment. Over the past decade, increasing attention has been placed on energy consumption in water and wastewater systems for the following reasons: (1) Water and energy are two interrelated resources. The nexus between water and energy can intensify the crises of fresh water and fossil fuel shortages; (2) The demand of water/wastewater treatment services is expected to continue to increase with increasing population, economic development and land use change in the foreseeable future; and (3) There is a great potential to mitigate energy use in water and wastewater systems by recovering resources in wastewater treatment systems. As a result, the goal of this dissertation study is to assess the life cycle energy use of both water supply systems and wastewater treatment systems, explore the potential of integrated resource recovery to reduce energy consumption in wastewater systems, and understand the major factors impacting the life cycle energy use of water systems. To achieve the goal, an input-output-based hybrid embodied energy model was developed for calculating life cycle energy in water and wastewater systems in the US. This approach is more comprehensive and less labor intensive than the traditional life cycle assessment. Additionally, this model is flexible in terms of data availability. It can give a rough estimation of embodied energy in water systems with limited data input. Given more site specific data, the model can modify the embodied energy of different energy paths involved in water related sectors. Using the input-output-based hybrid embodied energy model, the life cycle energy of a groundwater supply system (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and a surface water supply system (Tampa, Florida) was compared. The two systems evaluated have comparable total energy embodiments based on unit water production. However, the onsite energy use of the groundwater supply system is approximately 27% greater than the surface water supply system. This was primarily due to more extensive pumping requirements. On the other hand, the groundwater system uses approximately 31% less indirect energy than the surface water system, mainly because of fewer chemicals used for treatment. The results from this and other studies were also compiled to provide a relative comparison of embodied energy for major water supply options. The comparison shows that desalination is the most energy intensive option among all the water sources. The embodied energy and benefits of reclaimed water depend on local situations and additional treatment needed to ensure treated wastewater suitable for the desired application. A review was conducted on the current resource recovery technologies in wastewater treatment systems. It reveals that there are very limited life cycle studies on the resource recovery technologies applied in the municipal wastewater treatment systems and their integrations. Hence, a life cycle study was carried out to investigate the carbon neutrality in a state-of-art wastewater treatment plant in Tampa, FL. Three resource recovery methods were specifically investigated: onsite energy generation through combined heat and power systems, nutrient recycling through biosolids land application, and water reuse for residential irrigation. The embodied energy and the associated carbon footprint were estimated using the input-output-based hybrid embodied energy model and carbon emission factors. It was shown that the integrated resource (energy, nutrient and water) recovery has the potential to offset all the direct operational energy; however, it is not able to offset the total embodied energy of the treatment plant to achieve carbon neutrality. Among the three resource recovery methods, water reuse has the highest potential of offsetting carbon footprint, while nutrient recycling has the lowest. A final application of the model was to study on the correlation between embodied energy in regional water supply systems and demographic and environmental characteristics. It shows that energy embodied in water supply systems in a region is related to and can be estimated by population, land use patterns, especially percentage of urban land and water source, and water sources. This model provides an alternative way to quickly estimate embodied energy of water supply in a region. The estimated embodied energy of water supply can further be used as a supporting tool for decision making and planning.

The irrigated world area has been increased dramatically from the mid of 20th century. Freshwater use and its consumption have emerged as areas of high environmental concern. Although agricultural lands represent only 12% of the world’s land area, roughly 70% of water withdrawn from aquifers, streams and lakes are for irrigated agriculture. Climate change is a truly global problem around the world and the contribution from the agricultural sector is significantly high. Consequently, the environmental impacts from the use of water by agricultural activities and their relative contribution to Greenhouse Gas emissions should be properly addressed. The present thesis aims mainly to assess the environmental performance of different agricultural systems through the application of Life Cycle Assessment and other complementary methods. Two main environmental impacts were considered: Global Warming and Water Footprint. The objective is to provide farmers with methodological and practical decision- making tools to help them to practice in sustainable agriculture.
La superficie mundial de regadío ha aumentado drásticamente desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX. El uso de agua dulce y su consumo se han convertido en áreas de interés ambiental. Aunque las tierras agrícolas representan sólo el 12% de la superficie terrestre del mundo, aproximadamente el 70% del agua extraída de los acuíferos, ríos y lagos se utiliza para la agricultura de regadío. El cambio climático es un conocido problema global en todo el mundo y la contribución del sector agrícola es significativamente alta. Consiguientemente, los impactos ambientales procedentes del uso del agua debido a las actividades agrícolas y su relativa contribución en la emisión de Gases de Efecto Invernadero deben ser tratados adecuadamente. La presente tesis tiene como objetivo principal evaluar el perfil ambiental de los diferentes sistemas agrícolas a través de la aplicación del Análisis de Ciclo de Vida y otras herramientas complementarias. Principalmente, se consideraron dos impactos ambientales: el Calentamiento Global y la Huella Hídrica. El objetivo es proporcionar a los agricultores herramientas metodológicas y prácticas para la toma de decisiones y poder así practicar una agricultura sostenible.

Doutoramento em Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente
Perturbation of natural ecosystems, namely by increasing freshwater use and its degradative use, as well as topsoil erosion by water of land-use production systems, have been emerging as topics of high environmental concern. Freshwater use has become a focus of attention in the last few years for all stakeholders involved in the production of goods, mainly agro-industrial and forest-based products, which are freshwater-intensive consumers, requiring large inputs of green and blue water. This thesis presents a global review on the available Water Footprint Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based methods for measuring and assessing the environmental relevance of freshwater resources use, based on a life cycle perspective. Using some of the available midpoint LCA-based methods, the freshwater use-related impacts of a Portuguese wine (white ‘vinho verde’) were assessed. However, the relevance of environmental green water has been neglected because of the absence of a comprehensive impact assessment method associated with green water flows. To overcome this constraint, this thesis helps to improve and enhance the LCA-based methods by providing a midpoint and spatially explicit Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method for assessing impacts on terrestrial green water flow and addressing reductions in surface blue water production caused by reductions in surface runoff due to land-use production systems. The applicability of the proposed method is illustrated by a case study on Eucalyptus globulus conducted in Portugal, as the growth of short rotation forestry is largely dependent on local precipitation. Topsoil erosion by water has been characterised as one of the most upsetting problems for rivers. Because of this, this thesis also focuses on the ecosystem impacts caused by suspended solids (SS) from topsoil erosion that reach freshwater systems. A framework to conduct a spatially distributed SS delivery to freshwater streams and a fate and effect LCIA method to derive site-specific characterisation factors (CFs) for endpoint damage on aquatic ecosystem diversity, namely on algae, macrophyte, and macroinvertebrates organisms, were developed. The applicability of this framework, combined with the derived site-specific CFs, is shown by conducting a case study on E. globulus stands located in Portugal as an example of a land use based system. A spatially explicit LCA assessment was shown to be necessary, since the impacts associated with both green water flows and SS vary greatly as a function of spatial location.
As perturbações no equilíbrio dos ecossistemas devido ao aumento do uso de água doce, do aumento da sua poluição, e da erosão do solo pela água, são temas emergentes e de elevada significância na avaliação da sustentabilidade. Na presente tese é efetuada uma revisão de literatura dos métodos desenvolvidos para contabilizar e avaliar os impactes do uso de água doce, numa perspetiva de ciclo de vida. O método da pegada de água desenvolvido pela Water Footprint Network, e os vários métodos desenvolvidos com base na metodologia de Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) foram analisados. Os impactes decorrentes do uso de água para a produção do vinho verde branco produzido em Portugal, foram contabilizados e avaliados, por aplicação de alguns destes métodos de ACV. A relevância da água verde na regulação dos serviços do ecossistema tem sido ‘esquecida’ devido à ausência de um método capaz de avaliar os impactes ambientais decorrentes de alterações dos fluxos de água verde. Para superar esta lacuna, na presente tese é apresentado um método de Avaliação de impacte do Ciclo de (AICV) midpoint que permite uma avaliação espacialmente diferenciada dos impactes decorrentes das alterações dos fluxos de água verde que retornam à atmosfera em resultado de atividades de uso de solo. Este método permite também uma avaliação da redução de produção de água azul devido a reduções no escoamento superficial. A aplicabilidade deste método é demonstrada num caso de estudo de povoamentos de Eucalyptus globulus localizados em Portugal, os quais dependem fortemente da precipitação local. A erosão do solo pela água afeta os ecossistemas aquáticos, nomeadamente quando os sólidos suspensos (SS) atingem os rios. Na presente tese foi desenvolvida uma abordagem para estabelecer inventários de SS espacialmente diferenciados, e um método de AICV endpoint que permite obter fatores de caracterização específicos para avaliar os impactes ambientais diretos dos SS em algas, macrófitas e macroinvertebrados. A aplicabilidade da abordagem de inventário e do método endpoint foi demonstrada num caso de estudo de povoamentos de E. globulus localizados em Portugal. Tanto os impactes associados aos fluxos de água verde como os impactes relativos aos SS variam significativamente em função da localização do sistema de uso de solo em análise, pelo que se conclui que a inclusão da variabilidade espacial deve ser considerada em métodos de ACV.

Over the past decades, cost-effectiveness principle or cost-benefit analysis has been employed oftentimes as a typical assessment tool for the expansion of drinking water utility. With changing public awareness of the inherent linkages between climate change, population growth and economic development, the addition of global change impact in the assessment regime has altered the landscape of traditional evaluation matrix. Nowadays, urban drinking water infrastructure requires careful long-term expansion planning to reduce the risk from global change impact with respect to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, economic boom and recession, as well as water demand variation associated with population growth and migration. Meanwhile, accurate prediction of municipal water demand is critically important to water utility in a fast growing urban region for the purpose of drinking water system planning, design and water utility asset management. A system analysis under global change impact due to the population dynamics, water resources conservation, and environmental management policies should be carried out to search for sustainable solutions temporally and spatially with different scales under uncertainties. This study is aimed to develop an innovative, interdisciplinary, and insightful modeling framework to deal with global change issues as a whole based on a real-world drinking water infrastructure system expansion program in Manatee County, Florida. Four intertwined components within the drinking water infrastructure system planning were investigated and integrated, which consists of water demand analysis, GHG emission potential, system optimization for infrastructure expansion, and nested minimax-regret (NMMR) decision analysis under uncertainties. In the water demand analysis, a new system dynamics model was developed to reflect the intrinsic relationship between water demand and changing socioeconomic environment. This system dynamics model is based on a coupled modeling structure that takes the interactions among economic and social dimensions into account offering a satisfactory platform. In the evaluation of GHG emission potential, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to estimate the carbon footprint for all expansion alternatives for water supply. The result of this LCA study provides an extra dimension for decision makers to extract more effective adaptation strategies. Both water demand forecasting and GHG emission potential were deemed as the input information for system optimization when all alternatives are taken into account simultaneously. In the system optimization for infrastructure expansion, a multiobjective optimization model was formulated for providing the multitemporal optimal facility expansion strategies. With the aid of a multi-stage planning methodology over the partitioned time horizon, such a systems analysis has resulted in a full-scale screening and sequencing with respect to multiple competing objectives across a suite of management strategies. In the decision analysis under uncertainty, such a system optimization model was further developed as a unique NMMR programming model due to the uncertainties imposed by the real-world problem. The proposed NMMR algorithm was successfully applied for solving the real-world problem with a limited scale for the purpose of demonstration.
ID: 031001428; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Adviser: Ni-Bin Chang.; Title from PDF title page (viewed June 24, 2013).; Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-131).
Ph.D.
Doctorate
Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
Engineering and Computer Science
Industrial Engineering

In un contesto di continuo sviluppo industriale e di mutamenti climatici e del territorio, interrogarsi sulla sostenibilità dello sfruttamento delle risorse ambientali diventa di primaria, nonché impriscindibile, importanza. In particolare, il consumo dell’acqua dolce, risorsa scarsa sempre più difficilmente accessibile, deve essere necessariamente rallentato non solo attraverso un utilizzo più consapevole e controllato da parte delle industrie e della popolazione, ma anche grazie al supporto di tecnologie avanzate ed innovative per il trattamento ed il recupero dell’acqua di scarico, nel rispetto dei vincoli vigenti in materia di salute e tutela del territorio. In questa cornice si inserisce il progetto Niagara, lanciato da ADUE S.p.A, in collaborazione con CVAR LTD, il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale dell’Università di Bologna e co-fondato dall’Unione Europea tramite l’iniziativa Eco-Innovation. L’obiettivo è quello di integrare un classico impianto di riempimento dell’industria del Food & Beverage con un sistema integrato ed innovativo per il trattamento e recupero dell’acqua di scarico di processo prodotta e, normalmente, rigettata in ambiente. L’elaborato punta a sostenere il progetto Niagara proprio dal punto di vista dell’impatto ambientale, per comprovarne i considerevoli vantaggi derivabili rispetto allo scenario AS-IS attualmente adottato, di scarico diretto dei flussi d’acqua in ambiente. La quantificazione di tali vantaggi ambientali viene calcolata attraverso la metodologia di Life Cycle Assessment, dettata dalla norma ISO14040, che definisce gli stadi di valutazione dell’impatto del ciclo di vita di un qualcunque prodotto/servizio dalla fase di produzione ed assemblaggio, sino allo stadio di smaltimento, attraverso indicatori che stimano i danni apportati nei confronti dell’ambiente, delle risorse e dell’uomo.

Die Wasserproduktivität in der Tierhaltung ist von vielen Faktoren abhängig. Die Futterproduktion hat den größten Anteil am Wasserbedarf von tierischen Produkten. Weitere Einflussfaktoren sind die Leistung, die Reproduktion und der Gesundheitsstatus der Tiere, das Management und die Haltungsbedingungen. In dieser Arbeit sollte untersucht werden, wie sich diese Faktoren auf die Wasserproduktivität von Milch und Geflügelfleisch in Nord-Ost-Deutschland auswirken. Zehn unterschiedliche Futtermittel wurden hinsichtlich ihres Wasserbedarfes untersucht. Aus diesen Futtermitteln wurden die Rationen für die Tiere erstellt. Die Milchleistung der Kühe wurde zwischen 4.000 und 12.000 kg Milch pro Kuh und Jahr in 2.000 kg Schritten variiert. Für jedes Leistungsniveau wurden zwölf verschiedene Fütterungsstrategien untersucht, welche auf der Erhöhung einzelner Bestandteile der Ration basieren. Der Wasserbedarf von Leitungswasser im Stall wurde mit 38 Wasserzählern ermittelt. Für die Wasserproduktivität des Geflügelfleisches wurden vier verschieden intensive Mastverfahren untersucht. Die Wasserproduktivität steigt mit steigender Milchleistung der Kühe. Das Maximum wird bei 10.000 kg Milch pro Kuh und Jahr und Rationen mit einem hohem Gras- bzw. Maissilageanteil erreicht. Die Kühe, die im automatischen Melksystem gemolken wurden, nahmen mehr Tränkwasser zu sich, als die Kühe im Fischgrätenmelkstand. Dies ist durch die höhere Milchleistung bedingt. Im automatischen Melksystem wurden im Mittel 28,6 Liter Reinigungswasser pro Kuh und Tag benötigt. Für die Reinigung des Fischgrätenmelkstandes wurden 33,8 Liter pro Kuh und Tag genutzt. Die untersuchten Broilermastverfahren zeigten keine Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Wasserproduktivität. Die intensivere Aufzucht und bessere Futterverwertung wurde durch eine niedrigere Wasserproduktivität des Futters kompensiert. Der Anteil des technischen Wassers macht in der Milchkuh- und Broilerhaltung nur einen kleinen Teil am Gesamtwasserbedarf aus.
Livestock production is the main user of water resources in agricultural production. Water is used in animal production for producing feed, watering the animals, and cleaning and disinfecting barns and equipment. The objective of this dissertation was to quantify the effects of management strategies, such as feeding, intensity of production and the replacement process on the water productivity of milk and poultry meat in Germany. Water productivity in milk and broiler production systems was calculated based on the methodology of Prochnow et al. (2012). Own measurements of the drinking and cleaning water demand in milk production were conducted in a dairy cow barn. The study was based on site conditions of North-East Germany with common variations in farm operations. The feed production is the main contributor to water input in dairy and poultry production. The water productivity of milk increased with an increasing milk yield. The most beneficial conditions related to water productivity in dairy farming were found to be with a milk yield of approximately 10,000 kg fat corrected milk and a grass silage and maize silage based feeding. The total technical water use in the barn makes only a minor contribution to water use. Former regression functions of the drinking water intake of the cows were reviewed and a new regression function based on the ambient temperature and the milk yield was developed. In broiler production the intensification of the fattening systems did not increase water productivity. An increase of water productivity in animal production can be achieved with various management strategies with their specific influence on the production process. The feed management should be a focus of the strategies.

碩士
國立交通大學
工學院永續環境科技學程
103
In the recent years, the global warming issue is an increasingly serious problem. Warming phenomenon not only caused the climate change but also impacted on water resources and circulatory system. In order to manage the problems of greenhouse gas emission and water resources consumption, carbon footprint (CFP) and water footprint (WFP) assessment indicator is the method provides industry to quantify these problems. In Taiwan, CFP/WFP inventory system is currently evaluated by single product and single-index indicator. However, due to different system boundaries, the data brings meaningless by evaluating single product. This study mainly focused on single industry--rubber industry, including polybutadiene rubber (PBR), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) as inventory targets. Standard quantification adopts “ISO/TS 14067 Greenhouse gases -- Carbon footprint of products -- Requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication” and “Water footprint assessment manual”, and completes the inventory procedure by the method of life cycle assessment. Under the structure of same type inventory category and system boundary, we can get a relatively abundant data when evaluating these three targets simultaneously by CFP/ WFP assessment which could analyze the possibility to reduce CFP/WFP assessment indicator on rubber products. This study found that (a) The CFP/WFP assessment indicator shows that SEBS is the highest, PBR is intermediate, and SBR is the lowest; (B) The hotspot of CFP/WFP centralized in the energy resource consumption during manufacturing phase, and compared with CFP/WFP derived from other the energy resources, those derived from the fuel oil occupies the highest proportion. In this study, we found that if fuel oil is replaced with the natural gas as boiler fuel, 13.49% of CFP and 38.78% of WFP will be reduced on average. (C) Capacity utilization is the key factor on CFP/WFP. Our regression analysis shows negative linear correlations between capacity utilization and CFP/WFP. When capacity utilization climbed up, the CFP/WFP decreases. (D) If some plant’s wastewater effluent is all treated by wastewater treatment plant in industrial park, the calculation of its grey water should be based on pollution loading of the wastewater treatment plant in the industrial park, and water quantity should be used as allocation principles to allocate pollution loading to the production plant of the target product in order to match the localized scenario.

碩士
逢甲大學
環境工程與科學學系
102
This study investigated the influences of the three-stage wastewater treatment and clean-pig model on the carbon footprint and water footprint of pig farming. By identifying the inventory of carbon footprint and water footprint, the carbon emission and water consumption of the pig farming in the different growth stages of pig was comprehended. The results of this study indicated that the carbon footprint for one kilogram of pork were 4.64 and 3.88 kgCO2eq for the three-stage wastewater treatment and the clean-pig model, respectively. The difference of these two carbon footprints was 0.76 kgCO2eq. When the manure solid was picked up before washing as in the clean-pig model, the carbon footprint per kilogram of pork was 3.61 kgCO2eq, which was 1.03 kgCO2eq less than the three-stage wastewater treatment. Results of this study showed that the water footprint per kilogram of pork were 3,424 and 3,317 kg for the three-stage wastewater treatment and the clean-pig model, respectively. The difference of these two water footprints was 107 kg. If the treated wastewater was not reused, the water footprints were 3,459 and 3,336 kg per kilogram of pork for the three-stage wastewater treatment and the clean-pig model, respectively. The difference of these two water footprint was 123 kg. Base on the carbon footprint produced at different growth stages of pig, the order for the carbon footprint was piggery wastewater treatment > pig feed generation > slaughtering process > transportation > energy resource. The order for the water foot print was pig feed generation > piggery wastewater treatment > slaughtering process > transportation. The component analysis showed that the order for the water footprint of pig farming was green water footprint > blue water footprint > grey water footprint. The generation of pig contributed most the green water footprint. To conclude, the types of the piggery wastewater treatments greatly influenced the carbon footprint and water footprint of pig farming. The clean pig model effectively reduced the carbon footprint and water footprint. The Council of Agriculture should promote the clean pig model and grant funds to reduce the carbon footprint and water footprint of the pig farming.

碩士
國立成功大學
機械工程學系
103
The establishment of European Directive EuP and ErP has driven manufacturers to produce green products. Yet Carbon footprint and Water footprint are two important indicators to assess whether the product is environmentally friendly or not. But for Taiwan's machinery industry, carbon footprint and water footprint calculation is not common. Therefore, this study presents a carbon footprint and water footprint assessment method for mechanical engineers can be used when designing their new machine products. This method is based on life cycle assessment. First to classify every machine components, then analyze their raw material and manufacturing process. And according to the different transport, using and recycling situations have differnt calculate methods. Finally, use the life cycle assessment database and the literature data to accomplish the Carbon footprint and Water footprint assessment method.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
生物環境系統工程學研究所
99
Water supply has become more and more unstable owing to the severe global climate change. As the result, water resource and management are the most important issues nowadays. Water footprint is regarded as an indicator of consumptive water use and could also reflect the impacts caused by pollution emission from irrigation process. Moreover, this indicator could demonstrate water requirement. For crops, the water footprint is calculated within entire growth period and consists of three components: the blue water footprint (consumptive use of irrigation water), the green water footprint (consumptive use of rainwater stored in soil) and the grey water footprint (volume of polluted water associated with the application of fertilizers). Since rice production has always been the major consumption of irrigation water in Taiwan, this study estimated the amount required for rice production and discussed the water footprint difference among different crop seasons and regions. The water footprint from producing 1 ton of rice in Taiwan from 1980 to 2009 is about 5938 m3 with 4784 m3/ton (80.6%) of blue water footprint, 904 m3/ton (15.2%) of green water footprint, and 251 m3/ton (4.2%) of grey water footprint. To see the difference among different crop seasons, the water footprint for the first crop season is 4754 m3/ton, and the water footprint for the second crop season is 7122 m3/ton. The inconsistence is majorly caused by the weather, production rate, and fallow during the growth of crops. For regional water footprint, the southern region has the less water footprint (4139 m3/ton) and the northern region has the highest water footprint (7302 m3/ton). The result above could offer useful information for agriculture policy and water resource management. Water footprint is able to offer information about the temporal and spatial allocation of water resource and then improve the water consumption efficiency. With the public and accessible water supply data, the government could conduct better management and could determine more integral policies.

碩士
嘉南藥理大學
環境工程與科學系
102
Taiwan locates at the subtropical zone, where the annual rainfall is around 2,510 mm that is 2.6 times than global average. However, Taiwan is also at the eighteenth position of water shortage area among all the international countries. According to the growing population and serious industrialization in Taiwan, the water resource, such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs are seriously contaminated, where the clean water resources are decreased dramatically. The water shortage problem has drawn an enormous attention in Taiwan. This study selected a Rigid-Flex Board Company (named as A company) to set up a water consuming risk management system using water footprint which is qualified by international society. This study mainly focused on establishing a water footprint simulation system of industrial companies in Taiwan. Some scientific methods were used in this study, including interviewing the selected company, colleting their water consuming data, investigating the water utilization balance table and planning the analysis scheme, where the real water consuming pathway of different company types were carefully examined by water footprint system. Thus, the results of this study indicated that high percentage of water consuming in A company was mainly on raw materials. The blue water footprint is the major contribution for the final product. Moreover, this study also illustrated the water utilization patent of selected company, which evidenced that the water footprint simulation could reflect the water resource which was obviously affected by different company types.

Water footprint assessment is a developing method that is being increasingly applied to quantify water use, prioritise reductions, assess sustainability and provide information to achieve sustainable, efficient, and equitable water use. The objectives of this paper were to conduct a water footprint assessment of primary citrus production within the Lower Sundays River Valley in South Africa using local, high-resolution data and to examine indicators (water scarcity, pollution, efficiency, productivity and access) to determine the sustainability of blue, green and grey water footprints of a wet, dry and average year. Lemons were found to have the lowest blue and combined green-blue water footprint per ton of production across all climatic years, followed by soft citrus, valencias and navels. Valencias had the lowest, and navels the highest grey WF (relating to inorganic nitrogen). Lemons, despite their high crop water and fertiliser requirements, were regarded more economically efficient in comparison to valencias, soft citrus and navels, in that they provided higher net income and more employment hours per m3 of water in comparison to other citrus crops. In an average season, lemons generated approximately 39% more income per m3 of water than navels, despite navels being the dominant cultivar. Blue water consumption for citrus in the catchment was calculated to be 58.7 Mm3 for an average season and 89.2 Mm3 for a dry season. Due to an inter-basin transfer scheme, no physical water scarcity occurred, and both environmental and basic human needs are met. Water pollution levels related to nitrogen however, exceeded the assimilative capacity of the run-off in dry years. The area also experiences institutional and infrastructural scarcity and 14% of the population do not have access to piped water. Stakeholders and governments may use the results of water footprint assessments to determine the status of river basins, make evaluations for future water usage and the potential impacts of expanding agriculture and different management strategies. Including environmental and socio-economic indicators will also improve the integrity of water footprint assessments.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
創新設計工程系工業設計碩士班
106
In order to cope with the major crisis as the lack of global water resources issues in global water resources, the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have sequentially established the approach to water footprint calculation. Since then, the issue of water footprint became another highly-concerned environmental issue next to the issue of carbon footprint. On the other hand, The environmental impact of new developing prototype is always assessed by the environmental health and safety specialists after small-scale pilot production even launch into the market；and then the improving solution is found after the discussion with the designer. The above-mentioned process indeed needs to be speeded up from business perspective. Therefore, in order to avoid the water of time and costs, this research tried to develop an instant green design and computer aided evaluation tool “Water Footprint Evaluator (WFE)” for the solution by integrating the water footprint and function performance of product. The said tool was constructed on the business software “SolidWorks®” as the platform and applied the application programming interface (API) technique. Through the said tool, expectantly the designer can easily make an instant assessment of water footprint and function performance of their new product in the early stage of development. The assessment scope of WFE involves material production, component production, post production / finishing, and assembly. The said tool was successfully simulated and demonstrated by the two examples, a camera module and a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) of a mobile communication device.