Water is the most precious although most threatened resource on earth: environmental, economic and social factors are posing serious risks to its availability. Many projects concerning the domestic saving of water have been developed, but the fact that the majority of human water footprint is linked to the consumption of agricultural products is not fully explored. The Water Footprint indicator addresses this issue and conveys a punctual information about the volume of freshwater (blue, green or grey) used to produce a good. However, it does not consider other contextual aspects linked to the concept of virtual water, such as the water conditions of the country of origin of the product, the distance traveled by the good and the effects the withdrawal of water in a certain area can have on local environment. Based on these considerations, a new index for a more comprehensive evaluation of the water footprint of a product has been developed and called Integrated Water Footprint (IWF). The variables considered are: the ratio between Blue Water Footprint and Total Water Footprint of a product; the origin of the product from a water scarce or water abundant country; and the distance travelled by the good. For each variable, an efficiency equation has been developed; the results have then been combined in the formula of the new index. The calculations were made for three products – maize, beef and rice – using data at the national scale.
Then the index was applied to two case studies of local productions. The final user of the project is the end consumer of products: a label for goods, linked to a website by a QR-code, has been designed to graphically convey the information of the IWF to customers. The application of our index and label to products enables customers to make sustainable purchases.
Principal Academic Tutor
Renzo Rosso, Politecnico di Milano – Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Maria Cristina Rulli, Politecnico di Milano – Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Academic Tutor
Pierluigi Claps, Politecnico di Torino – Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructures
Luca Ridolfi, Politecnico di Torino – Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructures
Francesco Laio, Politecnico di Torino – Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructures
External institutions
Enel Foundation
Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Consorzio Interuniversitario per l’Idrologia (CINID)
External tutor
Paolo D’Odorico, Department of Environmental Science – University of Virginia
Team A members
Elsido Cristina, Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Pallaro Agnese, Ecodesign, Politecnico di Torino
Pozzi Federico Paolo [Communication coordinator and Team controller], Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Trabucchi Alessandro, Civil Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Team B members
Marco Chiesa [Team controller], Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Emanuele Moioli, Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Federico Salvati, Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Roza Teklehaimanot Siecha, Electronic Engineering, Politecnico di Torino