Addressing water quality in water footprinting: current status, methods and limitations
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WATER USE IN LCA
Addressing water quality in water footprinting: current status, methods and limitations Natalia Mikosch 1
&
Markus Berger 1 & Matthias Finkbeiner 1
Received: 17 September 2019 / Accepted: 1 November 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Purpose In contrast to water consumption, water pollution has gained less attention in water footprinting so far. Unlike water scarcity impact assessment, on which a consensus has recently been achieved, there is no agreement on how to address water quality deterioration in water footprinting. This paper provides an overview of existing water footprint methods to calculate impacts associated with water pollution and discusses their strengths and limitations using an illustrative example. Methods The methods are described and applied to a case study for the wastewater generated in textile processing. The results for two scenarios with different water quality parameters are evaluated against each other and the water scarcity footprint (WSF). Finally, methodological aspects, strengths and limitations of each method are analysed and discussed and recommendations for the methods application are provided. Results and discussion Two general impact assessment approaches exist to address water quality in water footprinting: the Water Degradation Footprint (WDF) calculates the impacts associated with the propagation of released pollutants in the environment and their uptake by the population and ecosystem, while the Water Availability Footprint (WAF) quantifies the impacts related to the water deprivation, when polluted water cannot be used. Overall, seven methods to consider water quality in water footprinting were identified, which rely upon one or a combination of WDF, WAF and WSF. Methodological scopes significantly vary regarding the inventory requirements and provided results (a single-score or several impact categories). The case study demonstrated that the methods provide conflicting results concerning which scenario is less harmful with regard to the water pollution. Conclusions This paper provides a review of the water pollution assessment methods in water footprinting and analyses their modelling choices and resulting effects on the WF. With regard to the identified inconsistencies, we reveal the urgent need for a guidance for the methods application to provide robust results and allow a consistent evaluation of the water quality in water footprinting. Keywords Water footprint . Water quality . Water pollution . Life cycle impact assessment . Water deprivation footprint
1 Introduction Global risks associated with water pollution have been emphasized in several studies, e.g. spread of waterborne diseases (Schwarzenbach et al. 2010; UNEP/WHO 1996), ecosystem deterioration (UN-Water 2011) and reduced drinking water availability (FAO and IWMI 2017). The impacts on human Editor: Stephan Pfister * Natalia Mikosch [email protected] 1
Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
health resulting from
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