Assessment of water footprint in the Jordanian industrial sector as a means for sustainable water resources management

This study examines the impact of industrial water consumption by calculating the Water Footprint (WF) of major industrial products produced in Jordan. The WF assessment considers the entire supply chain, which is divided into the blue and grey WF, using chain-summation and stepwise accumulative approaches. A total of 28 industrial subsectors were analyzed, and comprehensive data was collected from diverse statistical databases for the period 2011-2013. The information covered various aspects including water consumption quantities, wastewater generation amounts, industrial production quantities, and additional relevant data obtained from industry surveys, environment surveys, and economic statistics provided by the Department of Statistics of Jordan. The results indicate that the mining of chemical and fertilizer minerals subsector had the highest blue WF at 13,517 m(3)/kg, while the highest grey WF was found for the refined petroleum products subsector at 1,193 m(3)/kg. Conversely, the lowest blue WF was observed in the chemical products subsector, and the lowest grey WF in the rubber products subsector. The average internal blue and grey WFs for the year 2011 were 733 m(3)/kg for blue water and 202 m(3)/kg for grey water. In 2013, these averages were 915 m(3)/kg for blue water and 108 m(3)/kg for grey water. This study reveals notable trends in industrial water consumption, providing valuable insights for policymakers in Jordan, highlighting the need for sustainable water management practices and informing strategies to address water scarcity and pollution issues in the industrial sector.