Assessing the water footprint of tea: Implications on Türkiye's freshwater ecosystems

Kadriye Elif Maçin; Emine Gözde Özbayram

doi:10.3153/AR25010

EN

Assessing the water footprint of tea: Implications on Türkiye's freshwater ecosystems

Abstract

The relationships between freshwater systems and agriculture are complex, and they intersect in many ways. Human interference with nitrogen and phosphorus cycles has become so intense that may be the effect of nutrient enrichment in freshwaters. Thus, this study aims to assess current (2022) and future (2032) water footprint (WF) of tea production in Türkiye which is one of the major agricultural practices in the country and its effects on freshwater sources. The Water Footprint Network (WFN) suggested methodology for water footprinting was followed during the study. Results showed that rainwater (green water footprint) is the primary water source to grow the tea plant. The green water footprint (WFgreen =877 m3/ton) was followed by blue (WFblue=142 m3/ton) and grey water footprint (WFgrey=75 m3/ton). This clarifies that there is no risk of producing tea in Türkiye in the near future due to the high green water footprint compared to blue and grey. Furthermore, freshwater systems have a low risk of nutrient pollution, as indicated by WFgrey. A further study with high-quality data including the amount and type of fertilizer used is therefore suggested.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval is not required for this study.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Water Quality and Water Pollution , Water Resources Engineering , Food Sustainability

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Kadriye Elif Maçin ^*
0000-0002-5989-7954
Türkiye

Emine Gözde Özbayram
0000-0002-5416-0611
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

March 6, 2025

Publication Date

March 28, 2025

Submission Date

July 29, 2024

Acceptance Date

October 7, 2024

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 8 Number: 2

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3153/AR25010

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA53NM57TC

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Maçin, K. E., & Özbayram, E. G. (2025). Assessing the water footprint of tea: Implications on Türkiye’s freshwater ecosystems. Aquatic Research, 8(2), 98-107. https://doi.org/10.3153/AR25010