Der Wasserfu.abdruck Österreichs: Wie viel Wasser nützen wir tatsächlich, und woher kommt es? | Austria's water footprint: How much water do we actually use and where does it come from?

Austria is rich in water resources. But it is a mistake to believe that Austria only supplies water to other regions. This country is actually a net importer of virtual water. It is a well known fact that drinking water accounts for only a fraction of our daily per capita consumption of water in households – approximately 120 to 150 litres. In actual fact, when considered in terms of virtual water and water footprint, the Austrians consume many times more than that. The term virtual water denotes the quantity of water that is needed for manufacturing a product. The water footprint (WF) includes the quantity of water directly consumed as well as the virtual water consumed in food and other products. The WF in Austria corresponds to a daily per capita consumption of 4377 litres, of which 114 for households, 3655 litres for agricultural products and 608 for industrial products. Of this overall quantity, 32 percent accounts for domestic water consumption (domestic WF) and 68 percent for water consumption in foreign countries (external WF). This article analyses the water consumption levels of the agricultural products of greatest relevance (relevance in the sense of high water consumption due to high consumerist values and/or high virtual water content): the cultivated plants wheat, maize, barley, rye, rice, potatoes, soya beans, tomatoes, apples, bananas, grapes and cotton and the animal products beef, pork, poultry, milk, cheese, butter and eggs. The consumption of these products involves a WF of 1300 litres per capita per day for animal products and 1200 litres for cultivated plants, 69 percent of the total WF for agricultural products. Although Austria boasts a high degree of self-sufficiency and great water efficiency in producing its products, the WF for all analysed products is 39 percent for domestic consumption as against 61 percent for foreign consumption. The following products show the highest daily per capita consumption levels: pork (416 litres), milk and cheese (375 litres), beef (308 litres), cotton (241 litres, 98 percent external WF), wheat (228 litres), coffee (218 litres, 100 percent external WF). With a yearly per capita meat consumption of 110 kilograms, Austria is among the top 5 worldwide. The external WF has often serious consequences: It is indirectly due to cotton consumption that the Aral Sea is steadily shrinking, it is indirectly due to the soya flour used as animal feeds that the rain forest in Brazil is dwindling. The article ends with recommendations to reduce the WF.