The circular economy of water across the six continents

Abstract

Water is our most valuable and precious resource, yet it is only available in a limited amount. Sustainable use of water can therefore only operate in a circular way; nonetheless, still today depletion of water resources proceeds at an accelerated pace. Here, we quantitatively assess the water circular economy and the status of water management across 132 countries distributed over six continents by introducing the water circular economy index, WCEI, based on the three pillars of water circular economy, i.e., decreasing, optimising, and retaining. This index relies on eight indicators such as water stress, tap water price, water use efficiency, the degree of water resource management, proportion of safely treated wastewater, population with access to safe drinking water, drinking water quality, and surface water changes in hydrological basins. It allows ranking 132 countries, and most importantly to identify criticalities and bottlenecks in the sustainable use of water resources across the six continents, pointing at possible directions and actions towards a fully circular economy of water.