Industrial Water Consumption as an Indicator of Sustainable Development: Countries, Regions, Cities

Abstract

The article is devoted to the assessment of current trends in water use in Russia. The statistical poly-scale approach revealed that as a result of a significant reduction in water consumption during the crisis of the 1990s, Russia ranked among developed countries in terms of water intensity. However, the rate of decline slowed down, and industrial water consumption was reduced the least. That determines regional proportions and regional dynamics. In most regions of Russia the specific water consumption decreases. Unstable trends are observed in two polar types of regions: oil and gas regions and the republics of the North Caucasus, largely due to the low share of circulating water supply. Cities are more efficient than regions. For large cities, there is an inverse relationship between per capita water consumption and the population of the city.