Water Use and Conservation in Manufacturing: Evidence from U.S. Microdata

Water Resour Manage (2016) 30:41854200

DOI 10.1007/s11269-016-1414-7

Randy A. Becker1

Received: 5 April 2016 /Accepted: 20 June 2016 /

Published online: 11 July 2016# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht (outside the USA) 2016

Abstract Water can be a scarce resource, particularly in certain places at certain times. Understanding both water use and conservation efforts can help ensure that limited supplies can meet the demands of a growing population and economy. This paper examines water use and recirculation in the U.S. manufacturing sector, using newly recovered microdata from the Survey of Water Use in Manufacturing, merged with establishment-level data from the Annual Survey of Manufactures and the Census of Manufactures. Results suggest that water use per unit of output is largest for larger establishments, in part because larger establishments use water for more purposes. Larger establishments are also found to recirculate water more satisfying demand (water use) without necessarily increasing water intake. Various costs also appear to play a role in water recirculation. In particular, the water circulation rate is found to be higher when water is purchased from a utility. Relatively low (internal) prices for self-supplied water could suppress the incentive to invest in recirculation. Meanwhile, establishments with higher per-gallon intake treatment costs also recirculate more, as might be expected. The cost associated with water discharge due to regulation or otherwise also increases circulation rates. The aridity of a locale is found to have little effect on circulation rates.

Keywords Water use . Water recirculation . U.S. manufacturing

1 Introduction

Water can be a scarce resource, particularly in certain places at certain times. In the United States, a substantial share of the population upwards of 66 % lives in areas vulnerable to water shortages (Padowski and Jawitz 2012). Understanding both water use and conservation

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* Randy A. Becker [e-mail]

1 Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, 5K013, Washington, DC

20233, USA

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4186 Becker R.A.

efforts can help ensure that limited supplies can meet the demands of a growing population and...