The real water consumption behind drinking water: the case of Italy

The real amount of drinking water available per capita is a topic of great interest for human health and the economic and political management of resources. The global market of bottled drinking water, for instance, has shown exponential growth in the last twenty years, mainly due to reductions in production costs and investment in promotion. This paper aims to evaluate how much freshwater is actually consumed when water is drunk in Italy, which can be considered a mature bottled-water market. A Water Footprint (WF) calculation was used to compare the alternatives: bottled and tap water. Six Italian brands of water sold in PET bottles were inventoried, analysed and compared with the public tap water of the city of Siena, as representative of the Italian context. Results showed that more than 3 L of water were needed to provide consumers with 1.50 L of drinking water. In particular, a volume of 1.50 L of PET-bottled water required an extra virtual volume of 1.93 L of water while an extra 2.13 L was necessary to supply the same volume of tap water. These values had very different composition and origin. The WF of tap water was mainly due to losses of water during pipeline distribution and usage, while WF of bottled water was greatly influenced by the production of plastic materials. When the contribution of cooling water was added to the calculation, the WF of bottled water rose from 3.43 to 6.92 L. Different strategies to reduce total water footprint are discussed.     

Applying the principle of sustainability to coastal sand mining: The case of Pakiri-Mangawhai Beach,New Zealand

The purpose of New Zealand's Resource Management Act (1991) is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Coastal sand mining may be consistent with this purpose where: (1) extractions occur from sediment systems open to inputs of sediment, and the volumes extracted do not limit the natural development, physical characteristics, and ecological diversity of the coastal environments affected; or (2) extractions from palimpsest or relict sedimentary deposits occur at a rate where the rate of extraction is insignificant compared with the volume of the resource. The response of coastal sand mining companies and consent-granting authorities to the requirements of the Resource Management Act (1991) are examined with respect to recent applications to mine sand from a coastal sand body in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The assessments of environmental effects (AEE) submitted in support of these applications do not establish the sustainability of the sand mining operations. Specifically they do not define the dimensions of the active sediment system, quantify the volume of the related resource, or state the period within which sustainability is achievable. Further, the AEE do not consider the cumulative effects of the extractions, either in terms of the total volume of sand mined or the cumulative effects of different anthropogenic activities. The test of sustainability demands a quality of information and understanding of coastal systems that is well beyond that obtained in the past or accepted at present. There is a clear need for New Zealand's resource management legislation to be supplemented by technical guidelines that help ensure the test of sustainability is rigorously applied.     

Quantifying the influence of environmental and water conservation attitudes on household end use water consumption

Within the research field of urban water demand management, understanding the link between environmental and water conservation attitudes and observed end use water consumption has been limited. Through a mixed method research design incorporating field-based smart metering technology and questionnaire surveys, this paper reveals the relationship between environmental and water conservation attitudes and a domestic water end use break down for 132 detached households located in Gold Coast city, Australia. Using confirmatory factor analysis, attitudinal factors were developed and refined; households were then categorised based on these factors through cluster analysis technique. Results indicated that residents with very positive environmental and water conservation attitudes consumed significantly less water in total and across the behaviourally influenced end uses of shower, clothes washer, irrigation and tap, than those with moderately positive attitudinal concern. The paper concluded with implications for urban water demand management planning, policy and practice.     

An improved water footprint methodology linking global consumption to local water resources: a case of Spanish tomatoes

A water footprint (WF) measures the total water consumed by a nation, business or individual by calculating the total water used during the production of goods and services. This paper extends the existing methods for WF to more localised levels for crops grown partly in open systems and partly in plastic-covered houses with multi-seasonal harvesting, such as the horticulture industry in Spain. This improvement makes it possible to visualise the links of EU tomato consumption to precise production sites in Spain and opens a debate to the usefulness of such findings. This paper also compares existing ecological methodologies with WF and argues that both life cycle analysis (LCA) and ecological footprint (EF) models could benefit from WF methods. Our results show that the EU consumes 957,000 tons of Spanish fresh tomatoes annually, which evaporates 71 Mm(3)/yr of water and would require 7 Mm(3)/yr of water to dilute leached nitrates in Spain. In Spain, tomato production alone evaporates 297 Mm(3)/yr and pollutes 29 Mm(3)/yr of freshwater. Depending upon the local agro-climatic character, status of water resources, total tomato production volumes and production system, the impact of EU consumption of fresh tomatoes on Spanish freshwater is very location specific. The authors suggest that business now seek to report and address negative impacts on the environment. WF opens the door to complex water relationships and provides vital information for policy actors, business leaders, regulators and managers to their draw, dependence and responsibilities on this increasingly scarce resource.     

Environmental management policy in a coastal tourism municipality: the case study of Cervia (Italy)

The sustainability concept applied to human activities implies the need to harmonise the protection of environment with a satisfactory economic and social development. This is particularly true for tourism development: a misuse of the natural resources can cause a degradation of the tourist appeal of the destination, bringing it finally to its economic decline. This problem is particularly important in coastal tourism destinations. The implementation of an environmental management system is a powerful way for progressing towards better environmental performances. In this paper, the main results obtained in applying the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme procedure to the municipality of Cervia, a well-known tourist destination located on the Adriatic coast of Italy are described. This research puts into evidence that the main environmental pressures in the summer season are related to the supply of potable water, the production of solid wastes and wastewater air pollution and noise, etc. However, if correctly planned and managed, tourism can also contribute to environmental protection, to the conservation of biodiversity and to a sustainable use of natural resources.     

Harmonizing water management and social needs: a necessary condition for sustainable development. The case of Israel's coastal aquifer

This study focuses on the problem of most efficiently fulfilling the water requirements of society for sustainable water resources management. The goal is to coordinate effectively the social needs of the resident population with operational water resources management planning.The proposed approach consists of a pyramidal hierarchy of water resource management needs, similar to that suggested by psychologist Abraham Maslow for human social needs. The two pyramidal hierarchies can be simultaneously employed to delineate guidelines to synchronize planning for sustainable water resources development with the concerns and expectations of the resident population. In both hierarchies, higher level needs remain irrelevant and difficult to attain until lower level needs of the resident population have been fulfilled.Management planning measures employed with regard to Israel's coastal aquifer have been used to illustrate this approach. Observation of Israel's experience indicates markedly reduced effectiveness where such measures have failed to be properly synchronised with societal needs. Conversely, where hydrological management measures were successfully synchronized with societal concerns, increased efficiency towards attaining sustainable groundwater management was evident.