The Comparison of Virtual Water Consumption among the Various Consumption Patterns of Diet

Abstract

Water resource is the basic and necessary input in the process of production and various consumption patterns of products and goods causes cause different impacts on the water resource using. It is very important to analysis and measures those different influences, which is especially good for the sustainability of water resource, construction of sustainable consumption pattern and the implementation of Integrated Water Resource Management. In this text, the virtual water consumption of Gansu in 1992-2005 is taken as a case study to analysis the relationship between the consumption pattern and virtual water. Then, three replaceable patterns presumed to examine and measure the change of virtual water. Based the results of this study, the per capita virtual water have decreased 43% and the total virtual water 40% in 2005 (relative to 1992). The quantity of food consumption decreases and the milk increases evidently. The key issue to decline the virtual water is the per capita virtual water consumption taken as the “quality” aspect of the virtual water and the more vegetable less meat can save virtual water 9% utmost.