Data collection and data availability
The data about water abstraction and water consumption are to be collected from water supply companies, thermal electricity generation (conventional and nuclear), agriculture and industry.
In general it should be possible to collect data from water supply companies on water abstraction for the domestic sector, industries and other activities.
Most difficulties appear for the data collection on self supply of households and industries. When industries abstract the water they use directly from surface water or ground water without any measurement.
Difficulties arise as well for the quantities of water abstracted for irrigation. These data are not available from all MS. For this item it could be necessary to add questions in the farm structure surveys of each of the MS (see paper from Austria on that item). A rather rough first approach could be to inventory the licenses for water abstractions, if existing, to get a first estimate of the quantities involved.
§ What is the best tool to propose to improve data collection on water abstraction?
§ A survey to water supply companies on water abstraction and supply? Every year?
§ The developing of a data-inventory each 3-5 years among industries on abstraction of ground water, fresh surface water and other water (marine and brackish), including consumption of tap water and water used for cooling? Could then be possible to fill the yearly gaps using interpolation (and extrapolation)?
§ Using a method to estimate water use for agriculture/irrigation?
Sweden
Data sources for irrigation: estimation for dry year
Water loss during transport: Includes water consumption by water works
Portugal
Most recent abstraction data: Consumption evaluated by distributor; Abstraction estimated: about 30% losses + 30% not monitorated
Only evaluated global abstraction. No data about % groundwater or surface water.
Norway
Self supply: Only self supply for private households are included. Figures for self supply in industry are not available at the moment (Only a small fraction of the industry get their water from public water works).
Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands has a data-inventory on this subject each 6 years among companies in Nace 14 – 41. Items: abstraction of ground water, fresh surface water and other water (marine and brackish); consumption of tap water; water used for cooling. In addition, yearly data on household consumption of tap water are derived from the water supply companies.
The low frequency of this enquiry causes 5-year gaps in the data. It could be possible to fill these gaps using interpolation (and extrapolation). This has not been elaborated yet.
Data gap: Data on water abstraction and consumption in agriculture are scarce, but this will improve in future. Recently, a study of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture was published. This study gives data on both water abstracted for irrigation as well as tap water use, for the years 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1997. These data will be provided in the JQ 2000. A yearly update of the data is foreseen.
Data availability in the Netherlands covers the proposal for the JQ 2000 core data.
France
Water abstraction: source : Ministère de l'Aménagement du Territoire et de l'Environnement (DE)
Water supply: source : Ministère de l'Aménagement du Territoire et de l'Environnement (DE) d'après Agences de l'eau (assiettes
des redevances prélèvement) et dires d'experts pour l'irrigation.
a) secteur domestique : consommations nettes totales des collectivités locales
b) agriculture : consommations nettes totales de l'agriculture (sans pouvoir distinguer la part de l'approvisionnement public
et celle de l'auto-approvisionnement)
c) production et distribution d'électricité : consommations nettes totales des centrales thermiques (sans pouvoir distinguer
la part de l'approvisionnement public et celle de l'auto-approvisionnement)
d) industries manufacturières : consommations nettes totales des industries (sans pouvoir distinguer la part de
l'approvisionnement public et celle de l'auto-approvisionnement)
Finland
Water supply to industry: a) Only industry which conduct waste waters direct to water courses (permit given by Water Court or Environmental Administration)
Germany
Water loss during transport: e) incl. losses in waterworks
Belgium (Flanders)
Public water supply: c) Data of companies providing drinking water
Cooling water for manufacturing purposes: the origin of the cooling water cannot be given. It is mainly surface water or groundwater. Quantity is mentioned under Total.
Cooling water for production and distribution of electricity: The quantity is the total qty abstracted/used by Electricity companies. Most of it is cooling water.
Water looses: difference between data AMINAL and the drinking water declarations at the tax department.
Water supply: As far as taxes are concerned, a difference is made between "small" and "large" consumers. Small companies with low water consumption are also classified as small users. The water consumption of the small users is totally included under the heading "domestic use". The domestic group also includes all the households which are taxed via sector 56 (= domestic ??)
Spain
a) Includes all needs of dwellings, including public services, industrial activities and/or trade in the dwellings, which are connected to the network
b) Cooling in open circuits from thermal and nuclear plants
c) Especially environmental needs
d) Estimate. Fax from nat. stats office 24.5.96
e) Data do not refer to 1995, but represent an average hydrological year, except for those data referring to cooling of thermal and nuclear plants in 1995
f) 1874.3 from direct abstraction + 378.4 from municipal supply
g) 74.41 from direct abstraction + 3911.8 from municipal supply
h) = municipal supply
i) Source: OECD 97
b) 19202.4 from direct abstraction + 3043.1 from municipal supply
c) Direct abstraction
d) 1668 from direct abstraction + 268.7 from municipal supply
e) ? footnote unreadable - ask Spain
f) 40% agriculture, 11% Industry (direct abstraction), 29% Industry (municipal supply) and 20% domestic sector
Periodicity of data collection
From the available data can be seen that some countries can provide data on an annual basis, whereas others reported only once every ten years or less. An inventory of the major water abstractions, e.g. over 100 000 m3/year (~10 m3/h for permanent abstractions), on an annual basis combined with (sample) data collection for other abstractions at a three year interval might result in the necessary information. For the intermediate years inter- and extrapolations methods can be used.
With the actual data available, there are less than 8 countries with data for the base years 1970, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995. This makes it extremely difficult to produce reliable estimates for the water abstraction in the EU as a whole.
Comparability of the data
Attention should be paid that all major water abstractions are equally covered in all MS. Statistical services have to be heavily involved in this work. From the actual available data can be concluded, that the breakdown of water abstraction by type of activity is not very well developed. MS will have to do an additional effort to collect such information where possible at the level of NACE2 and geo-referenced. Inclusion of questions in existing economic or environment surveys could remediate the data scarcity