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20 March 2018 Photo Pexels
Water footprint important but misunderstood indicator
Water footprinting is the future of water conservation
The Water Footprint (WF) of a product, process or person provides an indication of how much fresh water is used, both direct and indirect, to produce a product, drive the process or lead a lifestyle. Although it is a very important indicator it is often misunderstood. Popular media contribute to this misunderstanding as they often use the WF to illustrate the large quantities of water used to produce a product without explaining what the footprint actually means.  

An example is a single kilogram of beef that has an average global WF 15 415 litres. This indeed sounds scary, but when one places it in context, the total WF includes 14 414 litres green water, 550 litres blue water and 451 litres grey water. Green water is the evapotranspiration of precipitation (rain), blue water is the fresh water from dams, rivers and underground sources, while grey water is the amount of fresh water required to dilute polluted water to acceptable levels.

According to Frikkie Maré, a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS), the WF concept provides a new look at water conservation and sustainability. “Although the WF is not an indicator of sustainable water use, it is a useful tool to calculate total water demand and is used in the estimation of sustainability. Traditionally, water conservation was focused on the direct water use of individuals (time taken to shower, leaking taps etc.), but the WF now provides a tool to focus attention on total water demand.”

The Water Footprint Network assists individuals with this new trajectory on the water conservation front with the personal water footprint calculator that allows individuals globally to determine their personal water demand through their direct and indirect water usage. Maré believes this can cause the necessary paradigm shift in the aqua status quo by creating awareness among consumers on their total water demand.

With Water Week underway from 17-23 March 2018, UFS students and staff members are urged to make use of the personal water footprint calculator in order to become aware of the real importance of fresh water in our everyday lives.

News Archive

Husband and wife make formidable team as they simultaneously receive a PhD
2014-12-12

Stellah Nambalirwa Lubinga and Moses Herbert Lubinga – a married couple – each received their Doctoral degrees at our 2014 Summer Graduation Ceremony. Their PhDs are in Public Administration and Management and Agricultural Economics respectively.

Dr Stellah Lubinga’s thesis is titled ‘The role of democratic rights and obligations of citizens in enhancing public service delivery in Uganda’. Her research makes a valuable contribution to a subject that has been under the spotlight in Uganda for some time. She contends that citizens need to exercise their rights to participate in planning for service delivery. In the absence of their participation, the quality of such services will remain sub-standard. Dr Stellah Lubinga proposes far-reaching interventions for ensuring constructive citizen involvement in the planning processes of service delivery.

Dr Moses Lubinga developed a set of Horticultural indices to be used as proxies in evaluating the impact of climate change on horticultural trade flows to the European Union market. His thesis is titled ‘The impact of climate change and the European Union GSP-Scheme on East Africa’s Horticultural Trade’. His methodological contribution lays the foundation for the future assessment of international trade flows from agriculturally-driven economies in informing policy-makers on the formulation of international trade policy – to the ultimate benefit of the nations in question.

The husband and wife Doctoral graduates originate from Kampala, Uganda, and have lectured and held several other positions in Ugandan and South African educational institutions. They continue to make great contributions in their respective fields of work.

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