Structural Change Implications for Industrial Water Use

Abstract

A framework is presented for incorporating structural change considerations into studies of industrial water use. A modified input‐output model is used to qualify the effects on water use of structurally related factors, changes in supply and demand conditions, changes in productivity and technology, and changes in water use practices. A number of case studies were run using this framework for Canada in the period 1966–1976. Changes in supply and demand conditions, as measured by changes in final demand, were responsible for large positive increases in water use. Changes in productivity and technological factors, as measured by changes in the set of input‐output inverse matrices used, were responsible for large negative changes in water use. Changes in water use practices, denoted by changing water use coefficients, were usually negative in their impacts on water use. The latter two factors combined to partially offset increases in water use due to the final demand factor. The major factor working toward reduced industrial water use was related to changes in production technology, the ways in which inputs and outputs were combined, and not to changes in actual water use practices.