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Discussion of Water Footprint in Industrial Applications

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Proceedings of the Institute of Industrial Engineers Asian Conference 2013

Abstract

Economic growth in the past half century brought an unprecedented comfortable life, but also had over-consumed Earth’s natural resources. Species extinction and global warming caused by CO2 emission make us start thinking highly of the surrounding environment. Therefore, the concepts of ecological footprint and carbon footprint have been proposed for assessing the extent of destruction on global environment. In year 2002, Dr. Hoekstra put forward the concept of water footprint for water consumption issues. The main concern is the freshwater used directly and indirectly by consumers or producers, including tracing the three key constituents as blue-, green-, and gray-water. Past studies of the water footprint have gathered a lot of information about agricultural water consumptions, but relatively few were studied for industrial applications. To face the possible shortage of water resources in the future, industries should take a serious attitude to water footprint issues. This study suggests that the water footprint in industrial applications can be used as a basis for improving process water usage, sewage treatment method, water cycle reuse and factories design. It will eventually help reach the objectives of saving water, reducing manufacturing costs, complying with international environmental protection requirements, and enhancing the corporate image and visibility.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and System Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chungli, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chung Chia Chiu & Wei-Jung Shiang

  2. Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, Executive Yuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chung Chia Chiu

  3. Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chiuhsiang Joe Lin

Authors
  1. Chung Chia Chiu
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  2. Wei-Jung Shiang
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  3. Chiuhsiang Joe Lin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chung Chia Chiu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. and Technology, Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan

    Yi-Kuei Lin

  2. and Technology, Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan

    Yu-Chung Tsao

  3. and Technology, Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan

    Shi-Woei Lin

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Chiu, C.C., Shiang, WJ., Lin, C.J. (2013). Discussion of Water Footprint in Industrial Applications. In: Lin, YK., Tsao, YC., Lin, SW. (eds) Proceedings of the Institute of Industrial Engineers Asian Conference 2013. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-98-7_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-98-7_44

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-4451-97-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4451-98-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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