Brazil consumes 6 liters of water for each R$1 generated by the Economy
March 16, 2018 10h00 AM | Last Updated: March 22, 2018 01h59 PM
In 2015, the economic activity Water and sewage corresponded to 0.5% of the total Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Economy. Water consumption for each R$1.00 of GVA was 6 liters.
Of the 6.2 trillion-cubic-meter water of the renewable water resources of the country in 2015, nearly 3.2 trillions of cubic meters were withdrawn (either for own consumption or for distribution). The total water consumption in 2015 was of 30.6 billions of cubic meters.
The production value of Natural water and Sewerage services was R$42.5 billion, with natural water accounting for 67.2% of the total. The average cost per volume of natural water and sewerage services was R$2.49/m³.
Except for Electricity and gas and Sewerage and related activities (which abstract and return almost the same volume of water), the main activities that directly abstracted water were: Agriculture (32.5 billions of cubic meters); Water collection, treatment and supply (17.1 billions of cubic meters); and Manufacturing and Construction Industry (6.1 billions of cubic meters).
Households were the greatest responsible for the use of Natural water (68%) and Sewerage services (78.6%). Household water use per capita was 108.4 liters/day.
Between 2013 and 2015, there was a cumulative decrease of 3.8% in the volume of water withdrawn from the environment for distribution. The volume of water furnished by the activity Water and Sewage for Household Use and Other activities (two of the biggest users) dropped 4.3% and 3.4%, respectively. The expenses of natural water final consumption by households increased 8.8% and those of intermediate consumption of the group Other activities, 10.4%.
These are some of the highlights of the Environmental-Economic Accountings for Water of Brazil - 2013-2015 (CEAA), surveyed for the first time by the IBGE. The publication and support material relative to this product are on the right of the page.
Brazil had 6.2 trillion m3 of water in 2015
The total of renewable water resources in the country – i. e., all available and renewable waters – underwent some oscillation in the period analyzed by the CEAA, which goes from 2013 to 2015. This total was 7.4 trillions of cubic meters in 2013, increased to 7.6 trillions of cubic meters in 2014 and dropped to 6.2 trillions of cubic meters in 2015.
Considering the water resources available in 2015 and the country's population, Brazil had that year nearly 30.3 thousand cubic meters of water per inhabitant.
Total water abstraction to economy was of 3.2 trillion m3
Of the 6.2 trillion cubic meters of available waters in the country in 2015, nearly 3.2 trillion m3 were withdrawn from the environment to be used in some economic activity. On average, the country uses just a little more than half of its water resources in the Economy. Even so, more than 99% of those abstractions are returned to nature (an example of such use are the hydroelectric power plants). Just 0.5% of the water resources (or 30.6 billions of cubic meters) is, in fact, consumed by households and enterprises.
Electricity and gas, due to the great quantity of water turbocharged by the hydroelectric power plants, was the economic activity that most contributed to this volume (97.3% of the total), but the use of water in this activity was mostly not consumptive (the amount of flows returned to the environment is the same as the one abstracted).
Except for the activity Electricity and gas and Sewerage and related activities (in which the abstraction made by Sewerage services corresponds to the collection of precipitation drained to the rainwater network, with equivalent abstraction and return volumes), the main activities that collected water directly were: Agriculture (32.5 billion m³); Water collection, treatment and supply (17.1 billion m³); and Manufacturing and Construction Industries (6.1 billion m³). In the table below, some of the main indicators of the Environmental-Economic Accountings for Water are shown. One cubic hectometer (hm3) corresponds to 1 million cubic meters (m3)
Overview summary of the Environmental-Economic Accountings for Water (CEAA) in Brazil, according to main indicators 2013-2105
| Main indicators | Units | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STOCK INDICATORS | ||||
| Total Renewable Water Resources (TRWR) | hm³/year | 7.417.312 | 7.569.220 | 6.203.469 |
| Total Renewable Water Resources per capita | m³/inhab/year | 36.896 | 37.329 | 30.342 |
| Withdrawals of water as a proportion of TRWR - Exploitation Index (EI) | % | 0,9% | 0,9% | 1,1% |
| Consumption Index (CI) | % | 0,4% | 0,4% | 0,5% |
| PHYSICAL INDICATORS | ||||
| Economic Activities | ||||
| Total water withdrawal | hm³/year | 3.018.334 | 3.031.769 | 3.201.032 |
| Use of water from Other Economic Activities | hm³/year | 10.499 | 10.673 | 10.389 |
| Total supply for other Economic Activities | hm³/year | 12.695 | 12.749 | 12.340 |
| Total return | hm³/year | 2.987.067 | 2.998.659 | 3.168.527 |
| Total consumption | hm³/year | 29.071 | 31.033 | 30.554 |
| Total water use - Brazil | hm³/year | 3.028.833 | 3.042.441 | 3.211.421 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture | hm³/year | 31.576 | 33.104 | 33.643 |
| Mining and quarrying industries | hm³/year | 957 | 1.001 | 1.044 |
| Manufacturing and Construction Industry | hm³/year | 6.872 | 6.740 | 6.389 |
| Electricity and gas | hm³/year | 2.931.619 | 2.943.774 | 3.114.300 |
| Water and sewage | hm³/year | 55.690 | 55.734 | 53.999 |
| Other activities | hm³/year | 2.118 | 2.089 | 2.045 |
| Households | ||||
| Total Household Water Use per capita per day | l/inhab/day | 116 | 114 | 108 |
| HYBRID INDICATORS | ||||
| Water Efficiency - Brazil | R$/m³ | 157 | 160 | 169 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture | R$/m³ | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Mining and quarrying industries | R$/m³ | 734 | 684 | 393 |
| Manufacturing and Construction Industry | R$/m³ | 223 | 248 | 269 |
| Electricity and gas | R$/m³ | 674 | 551 | 846 |
| Water and sewage | R$/m³ | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Other activities | R$/m³ | 3.933 | 4.562 | 5.012 |
| Cost of Natural Water by volume of Use of treated water furnished | ||||
| Economic Activities | R$/m³ | 3,18 | 3,37 | 3,52 |
| Households | R$/m³ | 2,07 | 2,18 | 2,35 |
| Cost with Water sanitation by volume of residual water furnished to the sewer system | ||||
| Economic Activities | R$/m³ | 3,72 | 3,88 | 4,01 |
| Households | R$/m³ | 1,43 | 1,46 | 1,56 |
Source: 1. IBGE. 2. Ministry of Environment 3. National Water Agency - ANA.
In the economic activities, the participation of direct abstraction in the total water used is of 95.7% in the Manufacturing and construction industry, of 99.3% in the Mining and quarrying industries and of 96.6% in Agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture. As to household water use, the contribution is of 91.1%, in Water collection, treatment and supply.
Total water consumption in Brazil in 2015 was of 30.6 billion m3
The total water consumption (water used minus water returned to the environment) was of 30.6 billion m3. In this period, the economic activities that recorded the highest consumption of water were Agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture (with 77.6% of the total); Manufacturing and construction industry (11.3%) and Water and sewage (7.4%).
In 2015, the total flow back to the environment was of 3.17 trillion m3. Except for the activity Electricity and gas and rainwaters, there was a total return of 26.98 billion m3. Of that amount, 25.6% returned through Sewer systems (Water and Sewage) and 74.4% were directly discharged on the environment.
Production Value of Natural water and Sewerage services was of R$42.5 billion
The intermediate and final consumption value of natural water refer exclusively to the use of water for the activity Water and sewage. The values of intermediate and final consumption of sewerage services refer to the effluent collected through a network by the activity Water and sewage. These values do not include the price paid for the water collected directly from the environment through a fee on the use of water resources.
In 2015, the economic activity Water and sewage corresponded to 0.5% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Economy. The consumption of water for each R$1.00 of Gross Value Added was 6 liters/R$.
The production value of natural water and Sewerage services was R$42.5 billion, with natural water accounting for 67.2% of this total. The average cost per volume of water and sewage of the economy was R$2.49/m³.
Household water use per capita was 108.4 liters/day
On the demand side, that is, on the expenditure side, Households were the main responsible for the use of natural water (58.7%) and Sewerage services (58.8%) in 2015. Household use per capita was 108.4 liters/day.
It is also possible to relate the intermediate consumption costs with natural water to the water flows received from the Water and Sewage activity in order to obtain an average cost per volume of water used. In 2015, this average cost for Agriculture was R$0.11/m³ (the volume of water in this sector came predominantly from the public irrigation perimeters); and for all the other activities, except for Water and sewage, it was R$5.18/m³. For households, the final consumption was R$2.35/m³.
Volume of water withdrawn for distribution had cumulative fall of 3.8% from 2013 to 2015
From 2013 to 2015, there was a cumulative drop of 3.8% in the volume of water withdrawn for distribution by the activity Water and sewage, influenced by the water crisis and the decrease of production in several economic activities occurred in the period. Households and Other activities (the two largest users) presented, for the same period, variations in the used volume of distribution water of -4.3% and -3.4%, respectively.
On the expenditure side, from 2013 to 2015, final household water consumption increased by 8.8% and the intermediate consumption of the group Other activities, 10.4%.
The water use intensity indicator shows the consumption of water (in liters) for each real of Gross Added Value generated by the activities. In 2015, the result of this indicator for Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Aquaculture was of 91.58 liters/R$, Transformation and Construction Industries of 3.72 liters/R$, while Mining and quarrying Industries was 2.54 liters/R$. Conversely, the result of electricity and gas was of 1.18 liters/R$ and Other Activities of 0.20 liters/R$.
