Water footprints in Indian textiles

India's Textile Industry: Drowning in Water Debt

Precursor

The textile and fashion industry is arguably one of the world's water thirstiest sectors, as its long supply chain is regarded as the heaviest water consumer, from fibre production to finished products.

A deep dive into water shows that it is used by the textile industry during all of its many processes, including size, desizing, mercerizing, scouring, bleaching, printing, and finishing.

The thesis here is that consumption of considerable volumes of "virtual water," or water that cannot be utilized for anything else owing to evaporation or pollution, is sometimes overlooked in water footprint estimates, in addition to processing.??

Jeans making is an epitome of water consumption in the textile industry.

Water Footprint and how to calculate it

"Water is a renewable resource when properly managed and used responsibly."

As previously stated, make no mistake a water footprint calculation must take into account virtual water or the entire amount of water consumed during all manufacturing processes.

Virtual water either evaporates or gets too contaminated to be used by humans throughout the textile preparation process.

For example, generating a kilo of cotton in India uses an average of 22,500 L (or 6,000 gallons) of water, however, this significant water use for fiber production is sometimes overlooked when calculating the water footprint of the textile processing industry.?

A Water Crisis in the Making

India's textile boom hides a deadly secret: a massive water footprint.

The dark underbelly of fast fashion; Fueled by fast fashion and skyrocketing water consumption, this industry threatens to drain the lifeblood of water-scarce regions, and the trouble is that many times the authorities allow the rules to be relaxed in many countries.

Call out: Water-thirsty textile industry

Interesting data-points

• Daily, a single textile mill gulps down a staggering 1.6 million liters of water.
• This insatiable demand coincides with a projected industry boom to $18.51 billion by 2022.
• The situation is compounded by a global water crisis affecting over 2 billion people.
• By 2025, half the world's population could face water scarcity, displacing millions.

India's Water War: Water Apocalypse Imminent

• The whole theory is that in India, water scarcity is a killer, with 2 lakh deaths annually linked to poor access (NITI Aayog 2018 CWMI report).
• The textile industry, a major global polluter, is a key culprit/villain, consuming an estimated 93 billion cubic meters of water annually (4% of global freshwater extraction).
• The chemical use piece of the supply chain in processing further exacerbates poisoning water sources and ecosystems.

How The Fashion Industry Is Using and Abusing Water?

A Looming Disaster

• There is a case to be made that rise of fast fashion exacerbates the crisis, further straining water resources.
• The average mill's daily water consumption underpins the critical & urgent need for sustainable practices.
• What further adds to woes is continued industry growth without change spells disaster.

Hope on the Horizon:

• Water-efficient technologies in textile production offer a lifeline.
• Another silver lining is promoting circular fashion can reduce criminal waste and water usage.
• Educating consumers about the water's impact on their clothing choices empowers change as a very positive catalyst.The good bit is to quell the concern. Greenpeace is fighting for an end to the industry's use of dangerous, persistent, and hormone-disrupting chemicals in our water, and the textile industry is supporting changes in the use of eco-friendly chemicals and water conservation.

Why World Water Day Matters; There is a case to be made out in favour of the textile industry pledging every 'World Water Day' to mitigate the excessive sectoral water use.

At this stage, one would argue it is bubbly and not out of control as long as the sector is well sensitized to the nuances of water use and its potential to preserve and conserve this in the spirit of nature.