What is a Water Footprint?
What is a Water Footprint?
The water footprint is a measure of the impacts of direct and indirect water consumption associated with all activities in the life cycle of a product. This concept is particularly important for water-intensive processes and in regions where water scarcity is a serious problem. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) defines water footprint as an indicator of the direct and indirect use of freshwater by both producers and consumers. The water footprint of an individual or community is defined as the total volume of freshwater used by the individual or community, while the water footprint of a sector is defined as the total volume of freshwater required in the production process of each good and service produced by the sector.