Which industries consume the most water

Developed and high income countries tend to use more water for energy generation and industry, whilst developing and lower income countries tend to use more water for agriculture.

Water shares across the sectors can change though in different individual countries, as well as in developed vs developing countries, and high vs low income countries. Industrial water use is essentially any water used for the creation and manufacturing of a product. When comes to looking at water usage within individual industries, there is a difference between direct and indirect water usage. In terms of direct water usage, the agriculture industry mainly via irrigation and power-generation industry mainly via thermoelectricity are responsible for 90 percent of direct water withdrawals.

We see this in the United States stats — thermo electricity, irrigation and public supply withdrew the most fresh water in terms of volume. Industrial, aquaculture, domestic, mining and livestock round out the other major users. According to News. In terms of types of products that use the most water for their industrial processes, food, metals, paper, chemicals, and gasoline and oils refined petroleum industrial processes might use the most water.

About 96 percent of industry sectors use more water indirectly than directly in their supply chains. Water usage differs by industry, but public supply, industrial manufacturing and business , aquaculture , mining and livestock are some of the other big users in the US as of figures.

For almost everything we do or consume in society, there are both direct and indirect water footprints. Another example is the indirect water footprint manufacturing facilities incur for the power required to run their equipment. In addition to water use, we might also consider water waste and loss in industry. There might be a range of solutions for using water more sustainably in industry.

So, not all water use always bad an unsustainable — it depends on costs and benefits of using that water, and how water is managed as a resource. There are three main sectors responsible for the withdrawal of fresh water resources — agriculture, for industry, and municipal. Read more about how these sectors withdraw fresh water resources globally and in individual countries in this guide. Agriculture is water use for farming, agricultural land and crops, with irrigation playing a major role.

It also includes steam generation. To address this, the last few years have seen an explosion in available resources.

For example, the aforementioned World Resources Institute is one of many organizations working closely with governments, businesses, and municipalities to develop better water management strategies, which are designed to benefit businesses and the planet simultaneously. There are also a number of water metering, water accounting, footprinting, and life cycle assessment tools available. Lastly, there has been a lot more research into creating new systems that focus on environmental integration and sustainability.

In the the U. This article was originally written by Tracey Schelmetic in July and was updated by Kristin Manganello in March Select From Over , Industrial Suppliers. Receive Daily Industry Updates. Search Over 6 Million Products. According to the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable , 19 companies reported a total water use of billion litres in This would be enough for over 1, million people to drink in one year.

Looking at all the water that goes into beverages, from growing the necessary ingredients to packaging, the values are surprising, to say the least. It takes litres of water to produce one litre of soda, while one litre of beer requires litres of freshwater. Finally, here are some thought-provoking facts about how these three industries consume water. It takes around , litres of water to produce a car. Producing one tire only requires close to 2, litres.

According to Treehugger , a ton of cement requires over 5, litres of water, while a ton of steel needs almost , litres. A single board of lumber takes 20 litres to grow. It is hard to read these water consumption figures and imagine people dying of thirst every day.

World Water Day is an opportunity for companies to challenge their consumption patterns and environmental targets. It is also a good time for organisations to remind their employees about their promises, engage them in taking action, and change mindsets and behaviours on the topic.

Find out how to engage your employees in sustainability on your journey towards a more conscious approach to water consumption here. Quite interesting article. But we need to add more industries like pulp and paper, paint, sugar industry, chemical industry, pharmaceutical, dairy, etc.

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