Water Footprint in Leather Tanning
and Steel Production
P. Senthil Kumar, P. Tsopbou Ngueagni, E. Djoufac Woumfo,
and Kilaru Harsha Vardhan
Abstract Leather tanning and steel production are considered as important sectors
in the world market, but their efficiency requires a huge consumption of water. The
import and export trade of these industrial activities have been increased in the
past decades to deal with the overcrowding population along with the change of
lifestyle pattern, as well as the continued industrialization. According to the recent
ISO 14,046, water footprint assessment has risen as a key indicator concept of the total
freshwater volume consumed and polluted directly or indirectly across a product’s
end-to-end supply chain. For industry purposes, the focus is paid on the identification
and quantification of virtual water trade, the scarcity, and pollution involved in the
production of goods and services. To increase the awareness of water consumption
in leather tanning and steel production, this chapter emphasizes the impacts of these
activities on water use and finally provides a relevant database assessment.
Keywords Water footprint · Leather tanning · Steel production · Water scarcity ·
Virtual water
1 Introduction
Leather tanning and steel industries are among the most water-intensive industries
in the world. While the former stands to be an effective way to recycle raw hides and
skins from animals to produce a wide range of goods and located in Mediterranean
countries [1], the latter is characterized by a lower cost, high tensile strength and plays
a significant role in construction and automobile. Those industries are therefore very
important for the development of the economic activities of countries. The products
P. S. Kumar (B) · P. T. Ngueagni · K. H. Vardhan
Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering,
Chennai 603110, India
e-mail: senthilkumarp@ssn.edu.in; senthilchem8582@gmail.com
P. T. Ngueagni · E. D. Woumfo
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique Appliquée, Faculté Des Sciences, Université de Yaoundé I,
Yaounde, Cameroon
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Water Footprint, Environmental Footprints and Eco-design
of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4377-1_5
137
and Steel Production
P. Senthil Kumar, P. Tsopbou Ngueagni, E. Djoufac Woumfo,
and Kilaru Harsha Vardhan
Abstract Leather tanning and steel production are considered as important sectors
in the world market, but their efficiency requires a huge consumption of water. The
import and export trade of these industrial activities have been increased in the
past decades to deal with the overcrowding population along with the change of
lifestyle pattern, as well as the continued industrialization. According to the recent
ISO 14,046, water footprint assessment has risen as a key indicator concept of the total
freshwater volume consumed and polluted directly or indirectly across a product’s
end-to-end supply chain. For industry purposes, the focus is paid on the identification
and quantification of virtual water trade, the scarcity, and pollution involved in the
production of goods and services. To increase the awareness of water consumption
in leather tanning and steel production, this chapter emphasizes the impacts of these
activities on water use and finally provides a relevant database assessment.
Keywords Water footprint · Leather tanning · Steel production · Water scarcity ·
Virtual water
1 Introduction
Leather tanning and steel industries are among the most water-intensive industries
in the world. While the former stands to be an effective way to recycle raw hides and
skins from animals to produce a wide range of goods and located in Mediterranean
countries [1], the latter is characterized by a lower cost, high tensile strength and plays
a significant role in construction and automobile. Those industries are therefore very
important for the development of the economic activities of countries. The products
P. S. Kumar (B) · P. T. Ngueagni · K. H. Vardhan
Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering,
Chennai 603110, India
e-mail: senthilkumarp@ssn.edu.in; senthilchem8582@gmail.com
P. T. Ngueagni · E. D. Woumfo
Laboratoire de Chimie Inorganique Appliquée, Faculté Des Sciences, Université de Yaoundé I,
Yaounde, Cameroon
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Water Footprint, Environmental Footprints and Eco-design
of Products and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4377-1_5
137