Maneesh Synopsis WF-TxtInd

The Energy and Resources Institute

Water Footprint Assessment of

Textile Industry -Synopsis

Maneesh Manjunath 3/26/2012

External Supervisor: Dr. Shresth Tayal Internal Supervisor: Dr. Suresh Jain

Master’s in Sustainable Development Practice (2010-12)

TERI University

SYNOPSIS – Major Project

1 MA (Sustainable Development Practice), TERI University

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Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2

The Water Footprint concept ................................................................................................................ 3

Important Statistics ............................................................................................................................... 3

Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 7

Research Objectives .................................................................................................................. 10

Research Questions .................................................................................................................. 10

Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 11

Literature review ..................................................................................................................................11

Primary Data Collection ........................................................................................................................11

Preliminary investigation ......................................................................................................................11

Survey ..................................................................................................................................................11

Triangulation ........................................................................................................................................11

Data Matrix ..........................................................................................................................................12

Data Analysis and calculations ..............................................................................................................13

Calculation of a product water footprint ...........................................................................................13

Calculation of Textile Industry Water Footprint.................................................................................14

Expected outcomes................................................................................................................... 14

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 15

Annexure 1: Time Line/Schedule ............................................................................................... 17



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“When the well is dry, we learn the value of water”

-Benjamin Franklin

Introduction

Traditionally, India has been well endowed with large Freshwater reserves, but the increasing

population and overexploitation of surface and groundwater over the past few decades has resulted in

water scarcity in some regions. Growth of the Indian economy is driving increased water usage across

sectors. Wastewater is increasing significantly and in the absence of proper measures for treatment and

management, the existing Freshwater reserves are being polluted. Increasing Urbanization in the

country is driving up the demand for water-intensive agricultural crops and industrial products (Gr

2009). It is estimated that in the year 2050, that gross per capita water availability will decline from

around 1820 m3/yr. in 2001 to as low as almost 1140 m

3/yr. and the total water requirement of the

country for various activities around the year 2050 has been assessed to 1450 km 3/yr. (Gupta and

Deshpande 2004).

Agriculture is the main consumer of water and most of the utilizable water supply in India is used for

crop production, therefore any increase in demand for agricultural products will increase the pressure

on the renewable water resources (Kampman 2007). Irrigation is the largest consumptive water use

sector in India. Irrigation contributed to 90% of the total withdrawals of 680 BCM in 2000 and the

domestic and industrial sectors contributed 5 % each (Amarasinghe, Shah and Anand 2008).

Among the various agricultural products produced in India, Cotton is one of the highest produced. As

per the study on cotton markets in India by WWF (2012), Cotton has around 59% share in the raw

material consumption basket of the Indian textile industry. It plays a major role in sustaining the

livelihood of an estimated 5.8 million cotton farmers and about 40-50 million people engaged in

related activities, such as cotton processing and trade4. India has the largest cotton cultivated area

which constitutes about 30% of the global cotton area. Over the past 10 years, Indian cotton production

grew with a CAGR of 7% to reach 31.2 million bales in 2010-11. In 2001, India was a net importer of

cotton and as a result of a range of initiatives, such as better technology, seeds, nutrient management,

irrigation and governmental initiatives, five million Indian cotton farmers have made India the world’s

second largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton (ahead of USA, behind China) by

doubling India’s cotton production (WWF 2012).

There have been studies in the past that have tried to assess the water footprint of consumption of

agricultural commodities in Indian states (Kampman 2007) and also the water footprint of cotton



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consumption in India as a part of a global assessment (Chapagain, et al. 2005). This study in particular

looks at the water consumption or intensiveness of textile industry, for which one of the main supply-

chain components is Cotton.

The Water Footprint concept

‘The water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that looks not only at direct water use of a

consumer or producer, but also at the indirect water use. The water footprint can be regarded as a

comprehensive indicator of freshwater resources appropriation, next to the traditional and restricted

measure of water withdrawal. The water footprint of a product is the volume of freshwater used to

produce the product, measured over the full supply chain. It is a multidimensional indicator, showing

water consumption volumes by source and polluted volumes by type of pollution; all components of a

total water footprint are specified geographically and temporally. The blue water footprint refers to

consumption of blue water resources (surface and groundwater) along the supply chain of a product.

‘Consumption’ refers to loss of water from the available ground-surface water body in a catchment

area. Losses occur when water evaporates, returns to another catchment area or the sea or is

incorporated into a product. The green water footprint refers to consumption of green water resources

(rainwater insofar as it does not become run-off). The grey water footprint refers to pollution and is

defined as the volume of freshwater that is required to assimilate the load of pollutants given natural

background concentrations and existing ambient water quality standards.’ (A. Y. Hoekstra, A. K.

Chapagain, et al. 2011)

Figure 1: Schematic representation of the components of a water footprint (A. Y. Hoekstra, A. K.

Chapagain, et al. 2011) It shows that the non-consumptive part of water withdrawals (the return flow) is not

part of the water footprint. It also shows that, contrary to the measure of ‘water withdrawal’, the ‘water

footprint’ includes green and grey water and the indirect water-use component

Important Statistics

Nearly 70 percent of the world’s cotton crop production is from China, USA, India, Pakistan and

Uzbekistan. China is the largest cotton producer, consumer and importer. After China, the top



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consuming countries are India, Pakistan, Brazil, USA and Bangladesh. To meet its cotton consumption

demand of 10 million MT, China imported 2.6 million MT in 2010-2011, which contributed to about

34% of world imports. Top cotton importing nations apart from China include Bangladesh (0.76

million MT), Turkey (0.74 million MT), Indonesia (0.39 million MT), Thailand (0.38 million MT),

Vietnam (0.36 million MT) and South Korea (0.23 million MT). The major cotton exporting nations

were USA (ranked 1st with 3.1 million MT cotton exported in 2010-11), contributing about 41% of

world’s total exports followed by India (1.1 million MT- 14% of total export), Australia (0.6 million

MT), Brazil (0.4 million MT), Uzbekistan (0.6 million MT), Greece (0.2 million MT), Turkmenistan

(0.2 million MT), as illustrated in the graph below.

Table 1: Cotton Consumption Ranking Fig 2: Major Cotton Exporters in 2010/2011

Source: (WWF 2012)

Global consumption of cotton products requires 256 Gm3 of water per year, out of which about 42% is

blue water, 39% green water and 19% dilution water. About 84% of the water footprint of cotton

consumption in the EU25 region is located outside Europe, with major impacts particularly in India

and Uzbekistan (Chapagain, et al. 2005). Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan and India are the largest

exporters of blue water. These countries export a lot of water in absolute sense, but in relative sense as

well: more than half of the blue water used for cotton irrigation enters export products. As a global

average, 44 per cent of the water use for cotton growth and processing is not for serving the domestic

market but for export. This means that – roughly spoken – nearly half of the water problems in the

world related to cotton growth and processing can be attributed to foreign demand for cotton products.

The countries with the largest impact on the foreign water resources are China, US A, Mexico,

Germany, UK, France, and Japan. A mapping of the water footprint per country as a result of domestic

cotton consumption can be seen for USA and EU 25 in the figures 3 and 4 below.



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Figure 3: The impact of consumption of cotton products by US citizens on the world’s water resources (Mm3/yr.)(1997-2001)

Source: (Chapagain, et al. 2005)



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Figure 4: The impact of consumption of cotton products by the people in EU25 on the world’s water resources (Mm3/yr.)(1997-2001)

Source: (Chapagain, et al. 2005)



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Literature Review

Human activities consume and pollute a lot of water. At a global scale, most of the water use occurs in

agricultural production, but there are also substantial water volumes consumed and polluted in the

industrial and domestic sectors (WWAP 2009). According to Hoekstra and Hung, the Total water

consumption and pollution in any country are generally regarded as the sum of a multitude of

independent water demanding and polluting activities; but in the end, total water consumption and

pollution relates to what and how much, communities consume and to the structure of the global

economy that supplies the various consumer goods and services (Hoekstra and Hung 2002). They say

that there have been very few efforts and work in the arena of water consumption and pollution along

whole production and supply chains, until the recent past. As a consequence, there is little awareness

regarding the fact that the organization and characteristics of a production and supply chain strongly

influence the volumes (and temporal and spatial distribution) of water consumption and pollution that

can be associated with a final consumer product (A. Y. Hoekstra, A. K. Chapagain, et al. 2011).

The notion of considering supply chain water use has gained importance after the introduction of the

‘water footprint’ concept by Hoekstra in 2002 (Hoekstra and Hung 2002). Hoekstra and Hung base this

concept on the underlying idea that a water-scarce country might wish to import products that require a

lot of water in their production (water-intensive products) and export products or services that require

less water (water extensive products). This implies net import of ‘virtual water’ (as opposed to import

of real water, which is generally too expensive) and will relieve the pressure on the nation’s own water

resources. In light of all this, the water footprint, as proposed by Hoekstra and Hung, which is equal to

the sum of the domestic water use and net virtual water import, can measure a nation’s actual

appropriation of the global water resources. It gives a more complete picture than if one looks at

domestic water use only, as is being done until date (Hoekstra and Hung 2002). According to Hoekstra

and Chapagain (2008), visualizing the hidden water use behind products, this way, can help in

understanding the global character of fresh water and in quantifying the effects of consumption and

trade on water resources use, and this improved understanding can form a basis for a better

management of the world’s freshwater resources (Hoekstra and Chapagain 2008).

Hoekstra and the others (2011) argue that freshwater is increasingly becoming a global resource,

driven by growing international trade and the global markets for water-intensive goods. They say that

as a result, the use of water resources has become spatially disconnected from the consumers.



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According to Chapagain and others (2005), the best example of this phenomenon would be cotton,

which from field to end product, passes through a number of distinct production stages, with different

impacts on water resources (ref. fig. 5) and these stages of production are located in different places

and final consumption takes place in yet another place (Chapagain, et al. 2005). Cotton is the most

important natural fibre used in the textile industries worldwide, amounting to 40% of the textile

production.

The consumption of a cotton product is connected to a chain of impacts on the environment, which are

easily visible and have different faces and on the one hand there are the effects of water depletion and

on the other, the effects on water quality (WFN n.d.). As a result, the impacts of consumption of a final

cotton product on the globe’s water resources can only be found by looking at the supply chain and

tracing the origins of the product (Chapagain, et al. 2005). They go on to say, on the basis of evidence

available, that the majority of costs and impacts (social and environmental) of water use and pollution

caused in agriculture and industry is not translated into the price of products. In this context, they

argue that, the price of water consumption in terms of virtual water export through cotton products is

not paid by the foreign consumers and hence visualizing the actual but hidden link between cotton

consumers and the water impacts of cotton production is a relevant issue in the light of the economic

and environmental externalities involved (Chapagain, et al. 2005). This way, cotton consumers have

little incentive to take responsibility for the impacts on remote water systems due to the general lack of

proper water pricing mechanisms or other ways of transmitting production information (WFN n.d.).

Studies by Hoekstra and Chapagain (2011) claim that revealing the hidden linkage between

consumption and water use can form the basis of new strategies for water governance by extending the

stakeholder boundary, where final consumers, retailers, industries and traders in water-intensive

products, who have traditionally been out of the scope of good water governance, can enter the picture

now as potential ‘change agents’ considering their role not only as direct water users, but also in their

role as indirect water users (A. Y. Hoekstra, A. K. Chapagain, et al. 2011). Thus, the most potential

tool to influence the new stakeholders talked above would be the concept of the ‘water footprint’

developed by Hoekstra and Hung in 2002.



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Figure 5: Impact of cotton production on the natural resources



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Research Objectives

1. To assess the operational and supply-chain water footprint of the textile industry sector in

the city of Tirupur

2. To assess the water footprint of the most largely produced textile products in terms of

their green, blue and grey water components

Research Questions

For Objective 1

1. What is the total number of textile industries and their categorization based on size?

2. What is the total volume of freshwater that is used directly or indirectly to run and

support the business?

3. What is the volume of freshwater consumed or polluted due to the industries own

operations?

4. What is the volume of freshwater consumed or polluted to produce the primary goods

and services that form the inputs of production for the industry?

For Objective 2

1. What are the different textile products produced among different category of

industries and what are their respective quantities?

2. What is the existing ‘production’ system and the various linked processes for

producing the garments?

3. What is the total volume of fresh water that is used directly or indirectly to produce

the product?

4. What are the different sources of water and their share, for consumptive purpose in

producing the garment?

5. What is the volume of water consumed at each process level?

6. What is the quantity of production of the product in concern?



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Methodology

Literature review: To review available literature on the subject for which sources such as journals,

textbooks, statutory and legal reports and electronic publications shall be carried out. This would help

in obtaining an understanding of the concept of Water footprint, its relevance to the textile sector, the

overall mechanisms in a textile industry and the various water usages, their purpose and different

technologies involved. It would also help in determining the various stakeholders involved.

Primary Data Collection: The primary data collection will be done through a questionnaire survey

of the textile industry units, complemented by stakeholder interviews and data from official records

and relevant authorities. In case of lack of sufficient secondary data on water consumption/footprint of

cotton production in India, primary data shall be collected from cotton producing villages, close to

Tirpur.

Preliminary investigation: Commerce and Industry Associations and other relevant authorities

in Tirpur shall be consulted in order to identify the industrial units.

Survey: The survey would be cross-sectional in design. The sampling frame shall be derived from the

data available with the ‘Office of the Textile Commissioner’. The Sampling method employed would

be Non-proportional Quota sampling and would take into consideration the following characteristics,

the type of products manufactured, size of the industry unit and the technology (relevant to water use)

used.

The questionnaire would employ both qualitative and quantitative measures. The questionnaires collect

data on the volume of water brought into the facility, including information on the source, purpose,

treatment and possible re-circulation of this water, by industrial users. As well, data is collected on the

volumes of water discharged and treatment of this discharged water by industrial users. Cost

information on the intake and discharge of water is also collected. The Questionnaire shall also provide

sufficient leeway to record/articulate comments during the survey.

Triangulation: Upon completion of the survey, pertinent stakeholders apart from industries who

can provide credible information on water usage in the textile industries (like Tirpur Municipality ™,

Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD), Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

(TNPCB), New Tirpur Area Development Corporation Limited (NTADCL), NGOs, etc.) shall be



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consulted/interviewed in order to validate/verify the information obtained during the survey. For the

purpose of triangulation, any available data on water usage (water audit reports, water supply records,

etc.) shall be obtained. Further, the data from all these sources will be compared, analyzed and

interpreted.

Data Matrix

Source

Survey Commerce

and Industry Associations

TWAD (TN Water Supply and Drainage

Board)

TM (Tirpur Municipality)

TNPCB Farmers Requirement

Identification of Industrial Units

× × × Type of Textile products

manufactured ×

Type & quantity of material inputs used (Example - cotton, nylon, silk, etc.)

× ×

Details of non-fabric Input products × ×

Production Processes ×

Water usage purpose ×

Quantities of Input water (operational) × × ×

Quantities of Input water (Supply-chain) ×

Quantity of water discharge or output × × ×

Total water intake of the textile industrial sector × × × ×

Total water discharge of the textile industry × × × ×

Water conservation & harvesting mechanisms × × × ×

Total Cotton consumption of the entire Textile industry × × Percentage of domestic &

imported cotton in the total cotton consumtion



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Data Analysis and calculations

Calculation of a product water footprint: The water footprint of a product here will be calculated

using the stepwise accumulative approach. This approach is a generic way of calculating the water

footprint of a product based on the water footprints of the input products that were necessary in the last

processing step to produce that product and the process water footprint of that processing step (A. Y.

Hoekstra, A. K. Chapagain, et al. 2011).

The water footprint of output product p is calculated as:

in which WFprod[p] is the water footprint (volume/mass) of output product p, WFprod[i] the water

footprint of input product i and WFproc[p] the process water footprint of the processing step that

transforms the y input products into the z output products, expressed in water use per unit of processed

product p (volume/mass). Parameter fp[p,i] is a so-called ‘product fraction’ and parameter fv[p] is a

‘value fraction’.

The product fraction of an output product p that is processed from an input product i (fp[p,i],

mass/mass) is defined as the quantity of the output product (w[p], mass) obtained per quantity of input

product (w[i], mass):

The value fraction of an output product p (fv[p], monetary unit/monetary unit) is defined as the ratio of

the market value of this product to the aggregated market value of all the outputs products (p=1 to z)

obtained from the input products:



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in which price[p] refers to the price of product p (monetary unit/mass). The denominator is summed

over the z output products (p=1 to z) that originate from the input products (A. Y. Hoekstra, A. K.

Chapagain, et al. 2011).

Calculation of Textile Industry Water Footprint: For this purpose, a summation of the aggregate

water intake (operational) of the whole Textile industry, broken down into Blue and grey water

components, and the supply chain water footprint (that of cotton and any other water intensive inputs)

of the entire textile industry shall be undertaken.

Expected outcomes

The water footprint offers a better and wider perspective on how a consumer or producer relates to the

use of freshwater systems. It is a volumetric measure of water consumption and pollution. Water

footprint account will give spatiotemporally explicit information regarding how water is appropriated

for production of textile products. They can feed the discussion about sustainable and equitable is

water use and allocation, and also form a good basis for a local assessment of environmental, social

and economic impacts. In particular, the outcomes that this study would produce can found listed

below.

Water consumption/intensiveness (supply-chain) in terms of water footprint, for the textile industry.

Water consumption/intensiveness (supply-chain) in terms of water footprint of different Textile

products.

Sustainability of current water consumption patterns of different Textile products.

Sustainability of water consumption in Textile industries, with the existing technology, present

demand for textile products and the water policies in place.

An quantitative measure to influence consumer behavior, in the consumption or purchase of water

intensive textile products or garments



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Bibliography

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2050:Business- as- Usual Scenario and Issues." In Strategic Analyses of the National RiverLinking Project

(NRLP) of India Series 2: Proceedings of the Workshop on Analyses of Hydrological, Social and Ecological

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WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, 2008.

Chapagain, A.K, A.Y Hoekstra, H.H.G Savenije, and R Gautam. The water footprint of cotton consumption.

Value of Water Research Report Series No. 18, Delft, Netherlands: UNESCO-IHE, 2005.

Falkenmark, M. Land-water linkages: a synopsis’ In: Land and Water Integration and River Basin

Management. Rome: FAO, 1995.

Gr. Water –The India Story. Presentation, Grail Research, LLC, 2009.

Gupta, S K, and R D Deshpande. "Water for India in 2050: first-order assessment of available options."

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Guthrie, Gerard. Basic research Methods - An entry to Social Science Research. New Delhi: SAGE

Publications, 2010.

Hoekstra, A. Y, and A. K. Chapagain. Globalization of Water: Sharing the Planet’s Freshwater Resources.

Oxford: Blackwell Publishing , 2008.

Hoekstra, A. Y. "Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water

Trade." Value of Water Research Report Series No 12. Delft, Netherlands: UNESCO-IHE , 2003.

Hoekstra, A.Y, and P.Q Hung. Virtual water trade -A QUANTIFICATION OF VIRTUAL WATER FLOWS

BETWEEN NATIONS IN RELATION TO INTERNATIONAL CROP TRADE. VALUE OF WATER RESEARCH

REPORT SERIES NO. 11, DELFT: IHE, 2002.

Hoekstra, Arjen Y, and Mesfin M Mekonnen. "The water footprint of humanity." Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), 2012.

Hoekstra, Arjen Y, Ashok K Chapagain, Maite M Aldaya, and Mesfin M Mekonnen. The Water Footprint

Assessment Manual - Setting the Global Standard. London and Washington, DC: Earthscan, 2011.

Kampman, Doeke. The water footprint of India. Master's Thesis, Delft, Netherland: University of Twente,

2007.

Water Footprint Network. Water Footprint - Introduction.

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home.

WFN. Water Footprint>Product water footprints>Cotton.

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/Cotton (accessed March 6, 2012).



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WWAP . (World Water Assessment Programme) The United Nations World Water Development Report 3:

Water in a Changing World. Paris and London: UNESCO Publishing and Earthscan, 2009.

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Annexure 1: Time Line/Schedule



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Maneesh Synopsis WF-TxtInd

Documents

sustainable

synopsis major

virtual water

primary data

worlds water

process water

grey water

product water