Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

P R O M O T I N G C L E A N E R I N D U S T R Y F O R E V E R Y O N E ’ S B E N E F I T / 2 2 9Figure 9.2: Contribution of main industrial sectors to the production of organic water pollutantsMetal10.2%Other8.8%Paper and pulp23.0%Metal6.7%Other2.3%Paper and pulp10.1%Textile14.6%Food39.6%Clay and glass0.2%High-incomeOECD countriesTextile6.6%Wood2.7%Chemical8.8%Food54.0%Low-incomecountriesWood5.0%Chemical7.2%Clay and glass0.3%Industries based on organic raw materials are consistently the most significant contributors to the organic water pollutant load, with the food and beverages sector being themost important polluter.Source: World Bank, 2001.Water demand and industrial developmentGlobal impacts on water by industryFreshwater data set out in the World Development Indicators Report(World Bank, 2001) show that water for industrial use representsapproximately 22 percent of total global freshwater use. In general,industrial use of water increases with country income, representing59 percent of total water use in high-income countries but only8 percent for low-income countries (see figure 9.1). The WorldWater Resources and Their Use database (Shiklomanov, 1999)forecasts that the annual water volume used by industry will rise from752 cubic kilometres (km 3 )/year in 1995 to an estimated 1,170km 3 /year in 2025, at which time the industrial component is expectedto represent about 24 percent of total freshwater withdrawal.One consequence of trade liberalization and the globalization ofindustry has been the migration of manufacturing industries fromhigh-income countries to lower-income countries, sometimes by thesimple relocation of production plants. In this way, industrialtechnologies developed in relatively water-rich regions are inheritedby communities in areas where water may be a more scarcecommodity or where governments are less able to matchinfrastructure growth to increasing demand. In these ways, bothwater stress and conflicts between users are likely to increase. Thepoorest groups in society, who typically have greatest difficulty innegotiating fair access, may be increasingly marginalized as conflictsincrease. It is necessary now to consider precautionary and innovativeapproaches to prevent irreparable loss or damage to water resources.On a global scale, however, industry may not be the mostsignificant source of pollutants responsible for reductions in waterquality. The runoff of agricultural inputs and untreated sewage fromhuman communities create more widespread degradation of waterresources (Kroeze and Seitzinger, 1998). In addition, the directdischarge of contaminants into water bodies is not the only vectorby which industry degrades water quality at this scale.Many of the chemicals and compounds discharged by industryas gaseous emissions have the potential for long-range transport,dispersal and deposition. This mechanism is recognized as animportant factor in the degradation of fresh and marine waters innon-industrial regions and has stimulated a variety of multinationalenvironmental agreements such as the Convention on Long-RangeTransboundary Air Pollution and the Stockholm Convention onPersistent Organic Pollutants.Global estimates of emissions of organic water pollutants bydifferent industry sector are shown in figure 9.2. Inevitably, thoseindustries based on organic raw materials are consistently the mostsignificant contributors to the organic pollutant load with the foodand beverages sector representing the most important polluter acrossthe income range of the countries surveyed. Wood-based industries,including pulp and paper, and textiles are also important contributors,their respective values being determined by the relative importance