virtual water

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the total volume of fresh water consumed and polluted in the production of a good or service throughout its full supply chain, encompassing irrigation water used in agriculture, process water used in manufacturing, and water incorporated into the product itself; the concept, introduced by geographer John Allan in the early 1990s, makes visible the hidden water flows embedded in trade, revealing that the import of water-intensive commodities such as food grains, cotton, and meat by water-scarce countries effectively allows them to import virtual water from water-abundant producing countries; virtual water accounting enables countries and regions to evaluate the water efficiency of their production systems and the water implications of their trade relationships and dietary patterns