| Title | Circular economy of water: Tackling quantity, quality and footprint of water |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 1893 |
| Authors | Sauvé, S; Lamontagne, S; Dupras, J; Stahel, W |
| Title | Circular economy of water: Tackling quantity, quality and footprint of water |
| Year | 2021 |
| Published | |
| Abstract | The evaluation of the water footprint of goods is a good step towards the evaluation of the circularity of water. The assessment of the whole life cycle of a product allows the quantification of its actual consumption of water - including direct and indirect water usage as well as water devalued through contamination. The circular economy seeks to use resources within loops that allow their conservation. The water footprint allocation can be subdivided into blue (groundwater and surface water), green (rain water) and grey (contaminated water) but it must also integrate the circularity of the water to differentiate consumption that is in closed or closable loops from that which is open-ended. For example, rainwater harvesting should be renewable as long as harvest does not materially impact runoff from catchments or recharge rates to aquifers. Surface and groundwater consumption are acceptable if the minimal environmental water requirements of associated water-dependent ecosystems are met. Environmental water requirements are unique to different settings and include maintaining a suitable availability of water of sufficient quality downstream. In a changing world, the type of ecosystems that the society wants to maintain, build or reconstruct sets the stage for defining the appropriate environmental water requirements. In that respect, zero-impact groundwater use is especially difficult to achieve - sustainability here means how much impact from the exploitation of water, society is willing to tolerate in the longer-term. Investing in water increases its value to society. The water footprint estimations must be adjusted to better integrate circular economy concepts and lessen the focus on quanti-fication of water consumption - it is not so much the throughput that matters but where does the water come from, what happens to it after use and how circular and sustainable it is. |
| https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100651 |
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