Water withdrawals

Water withdrawals, or water abstractions, are defined as freshwater taken from ground or surface water sources, either permanently or temporarily, and conveyed to a place of use. If the water is returned to a surface water source, abstraction of the same water by the downstream user is counted again in compiling total abstractions: this may lead to double counting. The data include abstractions for public water supply, irrigation, industrial processes and cooling of electric power plants. Mine water and drainage water are included, whereas water used for hydroelectricity generation is normally excluded. This indicator is measured in m3 per capita (a cubic meter is the equivalent of one thousand 1 litre bottles).