Grey Water Footprint in Agriculture: A Review of Concepts, Methods and Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35208/ertjournal.355Keywords:
grey water footprint, agricultural pollution, water quality assessment, sustainable agriculture, water resource management, water quality modelingAbstract
Agriculture consumes over 70% of global freshwater while generating substantial diffuse pollution that threatens water security and sustainable development objectives. The grey water footprint (GWF) concept quantifies the freshwater volume required to assimilate agricultural pollutants to acceptable environmental standards, providing a crucial metric for sustainable water resource management. This comprehensive review synthesizes current knowledge on agricultural GWF assessment, examining conceptual foundations, calculation methodologies, and practical applications across diverse farming systems. We analyze the evolution from simplified Tier-1 approaches to sophisticated process-based models incorporating hydrological dynamics, pollutant fate and transport, and ecosystem interactions. The review encompasses nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers, pesticide contamination, and livestock-derived pollutants, revealing substantial methodological challenges including data scarcity, temporal-spatial variability, and pollutant interaction effects. Comparative analysis of global case studies demonstrates order-of-magnitude differences in GWF estimates depending on calculation methods, regional conditions, and management practices. Advanced modeling frameworks integrating SWAT, HYDRUS, CROPWAT and machine learning algorithms show promise for improving accuracy and policy relevance, though standardization remains limited. Future developments should prioritize: (1) multi-pollutant interaction modeling under varying environmental conditions, (2) climate-adaptive GWF frameworks incorporating extreme weather scenarios, and (3) standardized global methodologies enabling cross-regional comparisons and policy integration. This review establishes GWF as an essential tool for achieving water-food-environment nexus sustainability, supporting evidence-based agricultural policy and contributing to SDG implementation at multiple scales.
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