Measurement and driving factors of grey water footprint efficiency in Yangtze River Basin

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 802; p. 149587
• Main Authors: Fu, Tianbo, Xu, Changxin, Yang, Lihua, Hou, Siyu, Xia, Qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Grey water footprint efficiency; LMDI; Yangtze River Basin; LMDI; Grey water footprint efficiency; Yangtze River Basin
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149587

Water shortages and poor water quality have become an urgent problem that is constraining the sustainable development of China. Grey water has been found to bring greater stress on the water supply than freshwater consumption, and the grey water footprint (GWF) has received significant attention as a comprehensive indicator to assess wastewater pollution. In this study, we analysed the grey water footprint in the Yangtze River Basin from 2003 to 2017 and established a Logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) model to decompose the grey water footprint efficiency into six key factors. Our findings are as follows: (1) The average grey water footprint (AGWF) in the central regions was 40% higher than eastern region and 172% higher than western region; (2) Economic effects and capital deepening effects are the main factors affecting positive changes in grey water footprint efficiency; (3) Based on an analysis of the driving factors of greywater footprint efficiency in each province, we conducted a territorial classification according to the primary driving factors in each province. Our results reflect the spatial distribution characteristics of the influencing factors on the grey water footprint effect in the Yangtze River Basin and will enable the government to formulate relevant policies for each subregion.
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•Assessment of grey water footprint and its efficiency in 11 provinces of the Yangtze River basin main stream.•The LMDI model incorporating capital deepening effects is used to assess the efficiency of the greywater footprint.•The grey water footprints in central regions, such as Hunan, Hubei, and Sichuan, are relatively high.•The grey water footprint efficiency in the prosperous eastern area is higher than in the developing regions.•The provinces where the efficiency of the grey water footprint is most affected by the two-factor.