Regional Characterization of Freshwater Use in LCA: Modeling Direct Impacts on Human Health

Abstract

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology that quantifies potential environmental impacts for comparative purposes in a decision-making context. While potential environmental impacts from pollutant emissions into water are characterized in LCA, impacts from water unavailability are not yet fully quantified. Water use can make the resource unavailable to other users by displacement or quality degradation. A reduction in water availability to human users can potentially affect human health. If financial resources are available, there can be adaptations that may, in turn, shift the environmental burdens to other life cycle stages and impact categories. This paper proposes a model to evaluate these potential impacts in an LCA context. It considers the water that is withdrawn and released, its quality and scarcity in order to evaluate the loss of functionality associated with water uses. Regionalized results are presented for impacts on human health for two modeling approaches regarding affected users, including or not domestic uses, and expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALY). A consumption and quality based scarcity indicator is also proposed as a midpoint. An illustrative example is presented for the production of corrugated board with different effluents, demonstrating the importance of considering quality, process effluents and the difference between the modeling approaches.

The WULCA consensus characterization model for water scarcity footprints: assessing impacts of water consumption based on available water remaining (AWARE)

“…Preliminary discussions within this working group identified the relevant question from an LCA perspective regarding potential impacts of water consumption at the midpoint level to be BWhat is the potential to deprive another freshwater user (human or ecosystem) by consuming freshwater in this region?^ (Boulay et al 2015a). Note that potential deprivation from water degradation, as assessed in Boulay et al (2011d) was not included in this indicator in order to avoid risks of double counting with water quality indicators when applied systematically.…”

Water Use Efficiency Improvement against a Backdrop of Expanding City Agglomeration in Developing Countries—A Case Study on Industrial and Agricultural Water Use in the Bohai Bay Region of China

“…Based on local water resource deficiency, Berger et al investigated the possibility of water degradation from perspective of water consumption [81]. Boulay et al believed WSI is the competition pressure among water users, and differentiated water sources and water quality [82]. This paper focuses on the relationship between regional water use and local water resources, so it follows the WSI calculation method of [80].…”

Preface

“…Nevertheless, global assessment methods, such as the Impact World + method (Boulay et al 2011;Helmes et al 2012), have recently included regional characterization factors for different regions at a global level.…”