Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

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Current Research in Environmental Sustainability

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/crsust

Water footprint assessment of food-water-energy systems

at Kathmandu University, Nepal
Bhintuna Vaidya, Shreeya Shrestha, Anish Ghimire
⁎
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel 45200, Nepal

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: An interconnected approach for the quantitative analysis of different sectors including energy, water, and food for their
Received 28 January 2021 footprints is important for promoting a balance between these sectors at a community scale. In this study, a conceptual
Received in revised form 30 March 2021 analytical framework on water footprint (WF) is developed to assess the interaction of energy, food, and water re-
Accepted 18 April 2021
sources in Kathmandu University (KU), Dhulikhel, Nepal. The total WF of KU is found to be 628,375.55 m3/yr and
the per-capita total WF is calculated to be 513.19 L/day. The analysis results reveal that food consumption within
Keywords:
Water footprint
KU is the key sector contributing to the high WF (65% of the total WF). The residential sector of the university has
Water-food-energy the highest direct WF of 28,800 m3/yr indicating high water usage in the residential buildings. The WF associated
Sustainability with electricity was found to be 155,764.80 m3/yr, which was the highest among all the energy source types. Possible
University scenarios for WF reduction measures that include installing water-efficient technologies, operation of a wastewater
treatment plant, promotion of responsive behavior towards food consumption, collection of all the food waste for en-
ergy generation from anaerobic digestion and prioritizing the development of alternative sources of energy has been
discussed. The findings could serve as a reference for other institutions that will help to plan and operation of sustain-
able universities and campuses.

1. Introduction Water is a fundamental source in which human development and well-

The increasing research interest on water use, scarcity and pollution in
relation to consumption, production and trade has led to the emergence of
the field of Water Footprint (WF), established by Professor Arjen Y.
Hoekstra in 2002 (Pradhan, 2018). The total volume of freshwater used
by an individual, business, or nation to produce the goods and services con-
sumed is defined as WF (Hoekstra et al., 2011). It is analogous to method-
ology taken in Ecological Footprint with certain deviation addressed in
this concept to elaborate WF concept into a well-defined quantifiable indi-
cator (Hoekstra, 2009). A WF can be calculated for any well-defined group
of consumers (for example, an individual, family, village, city, province,
state, or nation) or producers (for example, a public organization, private
enterprise, or economic sector), for a single process (such as growing rice)
or any product or service (WFN, 2010). WF, founded on the concept of ‘vir-
tual water, VW’ can be defined as the stage of production or consumption of
a product (goods/services) consumed by an individual or a community
(Hoekstra et al., 2011). The concept of VW was introduced by Professor
Tony Allan in the early 1990s when studying the option of importing virtual
water (as opposed to real water) as a partial solution to problems of water
scarcity which became the tool to release the pressure on the scarcely avail-
able domestic water resources (Haddadin, 2003).
being, industrial and economic development, energy production and agri-
culture all rely on the availability of water resources (Climate Policy
Watcher, 2020). A growing global population and economic shift towards
more resource-intensive consumption patterns have led to excessive use
of global freshwater withdrawals for agriculture, industry and municipal
uses which have increased the withdrawal by nearly six-fold since 1900
(Ritchie and Roser, 2018). Water is used immensely by people directly for
drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing and indirectly even more that in-
cludes virtual water embedded for tradable goods and commodities such
as paper, foods, clothes and cotton among others. It is quite clear that all
the substances have water cost in the form of virtual water, 140 L of
water is used to prepare a cup of coffee while lunch of a person may take
about 2400 L and a pair of blue jeans may consume 11,000 L (Pradhan,
2018). The total WF is a useful indicator that has been brought into water
management science to show the importance of consumption patterns
and the global dimensions in good water governance as it is an indicator
of direct and indirect water use (Ercin et al., 2012). It provides the best
framework that will help governments as well as organizations to create
policies and to control the private sector as well as individual consumption
and water usage. In addition, this concept gives clear information about the
water needed by the people in the country in relation to their consumption

⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: anishghimire@ku.edu.np (A. Ghimire).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2021.100044
2666-0490/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
4.0/).
B. Vaidya et al.
pattern can quantify stress on water resources to address global, regional,
national and local water scarcities (Hoekstra et al., 2011). Likewise, the
“Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus” is one of the present research hotspots
in the field of sustainable development (Gu et al., 2019).
Around 1.1 billion people still have no access to modern energy services
(GoU, 2015). In addition, the people who often lack access to both water
and sustainable energy services frequently depend mainly on agriculture
for their livelihoods (Stevens and Gallagher, 2015; Brandi et al., 2013).
The competition for water resources could pose a serious challenge to
many countries to meet the growing water demands in several sectors, es-
pecially many developing countries, to create sustainable energy and
water development strategies over the next few decades (Luo, Otto,
Shiao, and Maddocks, 2014). The WEF nexus is, therefore, the connections
between these three resource sectors, together with the synergies, conflicts
and trade-offs that arise from how they are managed, i.e., water for food
and food for water, energy for water and water for energy, and food for en-
ergy and energy for food (Simpson and Jewitt, 2019). It helps to identify the
complex link which exists between sustainable energy, food, and water sec-
tors that have large impacts on natural resources (water, energy, nutrients),
pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) (Terrapon-Pfaff et al., 2018;
Ramaswami et al., 2017). The majority of landlocked mountainous coun-
tries are poorly ranked in Human Development Index (HDI) (Gurung,
2016). Recently, it has been argued that to utilize scarce suitable land effi-
ciently for food production, poor inland transport, hydropower, irrigation,
drinking water in integration with other developmental infrastructures, an
overarching policy linking WEF systems within a country for combating
water, energy and food security would be most relevant (Gurung, 2016).
Water resources are the key factors that limit local human survival and so-
cioeconomic development in arid areas, and the WF is an important indica-
tor for measuring sustainable development (Dong et al., 2019). The
majority of research looking at the interaction among WEF nexus or system
Fig. 1. Map of Kathmandu University.
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Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044
of different footprints (Anadon and Siddiqi, 2011), has been focused on a
national scale or specific production process, with little research at the com-
munity scale such as universities and campuses (Gu et al., 2019). Therefore,
it important to assess the WEF systems based evaluation of WF during the
university operations and develop a methodology that can be used at a com-
munity scale (Lukman et al., 2009).
In this study, a conceptual analytical framework based on WF is pro-
posed to understand the system systematically and comprehensively across
three sectors (energy, water, and food consumption) in a university. WEF
nexus concept comprehends the idea that the production and consumption
chain of water, energy, and food resources are all intricately related which
helps to review water use in relation to demand of food and energy used
which can provide a larger perspective and focus the attention on all
three issues together (Mahlknecht and González-Bravo, 2018). This study
is focused on assessing WF based on the WEF system concept in the
Kathmandu University (KU) located at Dhulikhel in Nepal. This would pro-
vide the assessment of water consumption patterns, promote efficient water
use and could serve as a baseline for universities in developing countries to
compare the WF and sustainability status.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of the case study
KU is a public autonomous university located in Dhulikhel, situated
30 km from the capital Kathmandu, Nepal. It occupies over 18.11 ha of
land with multi-purpose infrastructures (Fig. 1) for academic, administra-
tive, residential, and recreational facilities across buildings. KU has a popu-
lation of 3091 students and 564 staff in total, among which the non-
residential population comprises 3038 and the residential population com-
prises 617 members inside the university premises.
B. Vaidya et al.
An organization, specifically an educational institution requires water
supplements for its large number of students, teaching and non-teaching
staff members. In this regard, Kathmandu University is one of the hubs
of higher education in Nepal and attracts a large number of students
from various parts of the country. Based on these requirements; food
and energy in terms of water consumption rate had to meet the overall
demand for its students and staffs. For instance, in terms of food, three
food ventures i.e., canteen, mess and café require large varieties of foods
contributing to direct and indirect water consumption. Besides, the uni-
versity requires a significant amount of electricity to run plus the
amount of diesel used for transportation and Liquid Petroleum Gas
(LPG) used for cooking purposes can be related to the virtual water con-
sumption. As the university requires an ample amount of resources in
terms of energy, food and water, the assessment of these used resources
in terms of their WF could provide a critical pathway for managing and
monitoring the resources.
Moreover, KU has installed solar photovoltaic showing an inclination
towards renewable energy. KU also consists of a wastewater treatment
plant that is currently not under operation and further studies are being
carried out for its execution. Therefore, the WF assessment at Kathmandu
University provides an important case study.
Fig. 2. (A) Analytical framework based on food, water and energy sectors based on WF, (B) Simple mass balance and system boundaries framework to analyze universitywide
WEF systems.
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Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044
2.2. The WEF system analytical framework based on WF and system boundaries
WEF system within the university has been to understand the environ-
mental impacts of a university-based on a life cycle perspective. Fig. 2
(A) shows an analytical framework based on the WF proposed for analysis
across three core sectors of sustainable campus management: energy sup-
ply, water supply and food consumption and Fig. 2 (B) shows the simple
mass balance and system boundaries framework to analyze universitywide
WEF systems. The energy and water sectors are inextricably intertwined as-
sociated with the university campus (Gu et al., 2019). The production of
water supply, water transportation and the treatment of wastewater all re-
quire substantial energy consumption (Larsen, Hoffmann, Lüthi, Truffer,
and Maurer, 2016). The in-boundary system includes groundwater supply.
In contrast, energy production needs significant freshwater consumption
and therefore, the energy is supplied from outside of the university pre-
mises (Mekonnen, Gerbens-Leenes, and Hoekstra, 2015). Hence, the
water footprint for energy production and water supply are used to deter-
mine the energy-water system. Similarly, the required food is supplied
from outside to the in-boundary and the disposal of the food waste is car-
ried out in transboundary of the university. In addition, the environmental
impact of universities is also significantly affected by their consumption
B. Vaidya et al.
decisions. Therefore, this is an area that is rarely considered in the univer-
sities' management of environmental impacts which could be determined
by one of the environmental indicators i.e., WF assessment.
2.3. Collection of relevant data and assumptions
Data were collected using an available database from Kathmandu Uni-
versity Human Resources Department and the university's Management
Service unit. Information on food, water and energy consumptions were
collected from the inventories, records of the Management Service units
of Kathmandu University. Information associated with WF regarding Unit
Consumptive Water Equivalent (UCWE) of different food items and energy
sector was taken and analyzed (Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2011b; Hoekstra
and Mekonnen, 2011a; CSO, 2019; Giri, 2019).
Primary data collection was done using direct observation, question-
naire survey and key informant interviews. The direct field observation
was carried out on July 22, 2020, for the verification of the prepared check-
list for the study and the collected data were of the year 2019/20. The key
informants were selected based on snowball sampling and those
representing different sectors like transportation, canteens and associated
with management of different physical facilities. For sampling regarding
questionnaire survey as shown in Table 1, the sample size was determined
using Yamane Eq. (Yamane, 1967),
N
n¼
1 þ N ðeÞ2:
Where, n is the sample size, N is the total population size, e is the level of
precision (10% precision is taken in this study).
A semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted to acquire the
data from students and staff members for the observation of their food
habits, water usage approach and energy consumption. The respondents
were selected using convenient sampling, and a questionnaire survey was
conducted using Google Forms, a survey administration free web-based
tool provided by Google.
A comprehensive study should be taken into account all the energy,
water consumption and food consumption associated with the university's
activities and operations. The study was carried out focusing only on
main energy sources i.e., electricity, diesel, and LPG. Electricity consump-
tion data for some individual blocks were not available, so, the data of un-
available buildings were extrapolated from the overall electricity
consumption of the university. The Indian average unit consumptive WF
values would have been more relevant in a similar context of Nepal but
data of only limited food items were available. Therefore, global average
unit consumptive WF values cited from related research were used for
WFs calculation due to lack of data in the Indian and Nepalese context.
Also, uncertainty analysis was conducted to check the deviation with the re-
sult of WF associated with food items between Indian and global values.
Food consumed within the three main cafeterias located at the central cam-
pus from their monthly inventory records was only considered in this study.
The food purchased and consumed by staff and students outside of the uni-
versity is unable to be tracked and thus not included in the calculations.
Nevertheless, the proposed analytical framework can still be applied to
other universities and may become more accurate if more detailed data-
bases of footprint intensity become available in the future.
Table 1
Sample size calculation.
Categories Total number Sample size (90% confidence level)
Students 3091 82
Staffs 517 15
Total 3655 97
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Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044
2.4. WF calculation of the university
The total WF was calculated by summing consumptive WF of food, en-
ergy, and water. The total WF (WFtotal) of Kathmandu University calculated
using the formula (Gu et al., 2019) as follows:
▪ The WFenergy was calculated by summing the consumptive WF of the
main kinds of energy supplied (diesel, LPG gas, electricity) in Eq. (1).
WFenergy ¼ ∑ni ECi  UCWEi ð1Þ
Where EC is the amount of each kind of energy consumed and UCWE is
the unit consumptive WF of each kind of energy.
▪ The WFfood was calculated by summing-up the consumptive WF of the
major food types procured by the university in Eq. (2).
WFfood ¼ ∑ni FPi  UCWEi ð2Þ
where FP is the amount of each kind of food consumed by the university
and UCWE is the unit consumptive WF of each kind of food.
Thus, the total WF (WFtotal) was calculated summing (2), (2) and DWF
as shown in Eq. (3).
WFtotal ¼ DWF þ WFenergy þ WFfood ð3Þ
where, DWF is the direct WF (water consumed directly within campus),
WFenergy is the WF of energy and WFfood is the WF of food consumption.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. WF associated with energy
With a university of multi-purpose infrastructures and over 3091 stu-
dents and 564 staff, Kathmandu University uses a 1,464,465.89 kWh/yr.
The WF associated with energy is quantified to analyze the energy-water
systemfrom a water consumption perspective. Details of the WF associated
with energy consumption calculation results of electricity, diesel and LPG
are shown in Table S1, S2 and S3 provided in the supplementary material.
The WF associated with the energy consumption annually within the uni-
versity, which includes electricity, LPG for cooking and heating, and diesel
for transportation, was 157,869.12 m3/yr (Fig. 3). Among three energy
sources, electricity contributed the highest WF associated with energy.
The WF associated with electricity was found to be 155,764.80 m3/yr
with annual total electricity consumption of 869,802.70 kWh. The WF asso-
ciated with 70% of electricity consumption was calculated using WF associ-
ated with hydroelectricity i.e., 0.244604 m3/kWh and 30% of the
electricity consumption in terms of the WF associated with electricity
imported from India i.e., 0.026192 m3/kWh (CSO, 2019). This was done
in such a manner as 30% of electricity is imported from India with different
production categories resulting in different values of WF associated with
per unit electricity production (NEA, "Nepal Electricity Authority”, 2020).
The WF associated with electricity includes all the electricity consumption
for academic, residential, and administrative purposes. It contributes the
highest percentage to the WF associated with electricity i.e., 96.22%. On
the daily basis, Kathmandu University requires 0.175 million L of water
which demands electricity to operate water pumps, which contributes
3.52% of the total WF associated with electricity. The drinking water treat-
ment plant at KU known as AKUa daily processes 5000 L of groundwater
producing 3000 L of treated drinking water using the reverse osmosis
purification system contributing electricityrelated WF equivalent to
395.95 m3/yr.
Different blocks were categorized accordingly among which adminis-
trations (non-academic), canteens, library, and academic blocks accounted
for the highest WF associated with electricity i.e., 134,936.90 m3/yr with
753,498.20 kWh electricity consumption. The electricity consumption in
these buildings is maximum during office hours as the facilities provided
B. Vaidya et al. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

Fig. 3. WF associated with the energy of Kathmandu University.

in these buildings are mostly used by the students and staff. Among residen-
tial and other blocks, Boy's hostel contributes to the highest WF associated
with electricity i.e., 6186.41 m3/yr with 34,545.37 kWh electricity con-
sumption followed by staff quarters as the residential population of Boy's
hostel was found to be high as shown in Fig. 4. In the Residential Quarter
of Kathmandu University, there is a total of 70 families consuming
26,272.91 kWh of electricity annually contributing WF associated with
the electricity of 4704.97 m3/yr. On average a family of 4–5 residing at
KU residential facilities consumes 476.02 kWh of electricity annually
with 85.25 m3/yr WF in terms of electricity.
Diesel was found to be the second-highest contributor of WF associated
with energy i.e. 2082.36 m3/yr. Kathmandu University transportation
services comprise a total of 11 buses and 6 cars for the academic year
2018/19 (Giri, 2019). Among two vehicle categories, the bus exceeds WF
as it was found that vehicle kilometer travel and fuel consumption were
higher than that of the car. WF associated with LPG in three food ventures
of the university was accounted for 20.40 m3/yr. The canteen occupies
42% of the LPG usage with its relative WF 8.63 m3/yr which is the
highest as it has to provide its services with options of breakfast, lunch, and
snacks during office hours. Likewise, mess contributes 39% of LPG usage
i.e., 7.85 m3/yr which is less than that of a canteen. This is because mess pro-
vides its services twice a day including only two meals which limit the LPG
usage time. The café accounts for the least WF in terms of LPG usage
i.e., 3.92 m3/yr covering only 19% as it only serves tea and coffee.

Fig. 4. WF associated with electricity and their relative electricity consumption of residential and other blocks.

5
B. Vaidya et al.
3.2. WF associated with food
It was found that the food being consumed in the University's three food
ventures i.e., Canteen, Mess and Café, contributes to an annual WF of
407,074.12 m3 according to the food-water system. Details of the WF asso-
ciated with food consumption calculation results of different food ventures
are shown in Table S4, S5, S6 and S7 in the supplementary material pro-
vided. The weight of the food items consumed in the university's three
food ventures totaled 168,570.60 kg and direct water use for food prepara-
tion was calculated to be 1350 m3 annually. The value indicates food con-
sumption within the university is one of the key sectors for contributing
to the university's WF. The food items were grouped into different catego-
ries and among all the food categories, dry store items were found as the
highest contributor to WF associated with food that amounts to
105,626.11 m3/yr. The food items listed in the dry store categories have
relatively larger UCWE due to which it has been contributing the largest
portion i.e., 25.95% to the WF associated with food of the University. The
dairy and animal products line up next in terms of WF with 100,438.46
m3/yr covering 24.67% of the WF associated with food followed by cereals
with a WF of 93,375.23 m3/yr. The cereals were found to be the
secondhighest consumed food with annual consumption of 29,821.00 kg
contributing 22.94% to the WF associated with food as it was one of the sta-
ple food items in Kathmandu University's food ventures. The fruits and veg-
etables consumption was highest with 86,883.50 kg consumed annually
although it only covers 10.34% of the WF associated with food which
amounts to 42,117.59 m3/yr. Likewise, 231 kg of tea was being consumed
annually which is higher than annual coffee consumption i.e., 187 kg but
the contribution of coffee to the WF associated with food was found to be
higher due to higher unit consumptive water equivalent than that of tea.
The data representation is shown in Fig. 5 (A).
Among the three food ventures in Kathmandu University, Mess has the
maximum WF of 235,666.16 m3/yr with 95,370 kg of food items being
consumed annually and Café has the least WF in comparison with Mess
and Canteen (as shown in Fig. 5B). On average 800 individuals take the
food service provided by Mess a daily. Dry store items contribute
the highest WF due to their high UCWE value and consumption pattern.
The canteen has a WF of 146,027.67 m3/yr with 62,992.60 kg of food
items being consumed annually. Around 400 individuals take the food ser-
vices provided by the canteen located in C. V. Raman Center where dairy
and animal products have the highest WF associated with food. The least
WF i.e., 25,380.30 m3/yr with 10,208 kg of food consumption was
accounted for Café. It is because of the least consumer (around 250) with
limited food items.
A survey conducted among the students (n = 82) revealed that only
54% of individuals consume meat (chicken) at the canteen or mess.
Among 54%, staff (n = 15) weighs about 12% and it was found that staff
members consume chicken 1.5 times more days in a week than students. Al-
though only 54% of individuals consume chicken occassionally daily, the
WF associated with animal products is still relatively high. So, if the con-
sumption rate of the chicken increases, the corresponding WF associated
with food will drastically rise.
A simple uncertainty analysis was conducted to assess the sensitivity of
the WF results associated with food items using different water footprint
intensities associated with global and Indian data (Tables S8 and S9 in
supplementary information). The UCWE value of food items in the
Indian context (Mekonnen and Hoesktra, 2011) was compared to the
UCWE value in the global context. It was found that there was a deviation
of 0.08% in terms of WF associated with food. This signifies nominal dif-
ference and thus, the result in terms of global value can be considered.
Globally, India, China and the US account for 38% of the total green,
blue and grey WF (Mekonnen and Gerbens-Leenes, 2020). The Indian
values are slightly higher than in the case of the global context as the
total WF related to the production of crops has a large share in the
Indus River Basin and also in most parts of India (Mekonnen and
Gerbens-Leenes, 2020) due to water-inefficient agricultural practices
(Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007).
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Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044
3.3. Direct water consumption
The direct water consumption was found to be 63,432.22 m3/yr. The
highest water consumption was found in the residential sector of the
University covering 45% of the total direct WF and among the residential
buildings, the Girls' hostel 1 accounted for the highest direct WF
i.e., 10,800 m3/yr followed by Boys' Hostel amounting to 9000 m3/yr.
The water used in residential buildings is comparatively high as a large
amount of water is used in daily activities related to personal hygiene and
sanitation. The academic buildings of the university cover 38% of the
total water use with numbers of blocks dedicated for this purpose. Among
academic blocks, Block 8 (School of engineering Chemical, Mechanical
and Electrical) has the highest WF of 4500 m3/yr with the highest number
of students. On the other hand, Block 7 (Department of Biotechnology) has
the lowest WF of 1149.12 m3/yr due to fewer students and faculty popula-
tion though it includes different laboratory facilities of the department. The
administration covers 14% of the total direct WF as the central University
campus has been dedicated to major administrative work accompanied
by several employees. Kathmandu University comprises both aesthetic
and recreational spots with three fountains and a swimming pool covering
3% of the total direct WF, among which the swimming pool has the highest
amount with 1300 m3/yr. Fig. 6 shows the average annual direct water con-
sumption in different buildings at Kathmandu University and the detailed
calculations are shown in Table S8 of the supplementary material provided.
The total wastewater generated from Kathmandu University was found to
be 52,930 m3/yr which covers 83.44% of the direct WF. The wastewater
was categorized into black water, greywater and laboratory wastewater
with their values of 536 m3/yr, 18,291 m3/yr and 8008 m3/yr. KU had
installed a wastewater treatment plant which is not under operation at
present.
3.4. WF based on WEF system analysis
The total WF of KU was found to be 628,375.55 m3/yr (Table 2). The
WF associated with food contributes a higher proportion of WF covering
65% (as shown in Fig. 7) of the total i.e., 407,074.12 m3/yr. During the pro-
duction phase, the food items require a significant amount of water thus
contributing to a higher WF. As the different food ventures serve a variety
of food items to a large number of individuals i.e., 1450 on daily basis,
Kathmandu University has the highest WF associated with food. In the con-
text of Nepal, the average annual food consumption of some major food
items in the survey year are rice (38.5 kg), potato (29.4 kg) and wheat
(24.5 kg) that are the staple food items of the country (CBS, 2018). In com-
parison with the Kathmandu University, the values for these food items dif-
fer for rice (19.85 kg), potato (6.82 kg) and wheat (0.47 kg). The difference
in the values was due to consumption patterns and dietary practices of uni-
versity students and general people as students prefer fast food items over
staple food items.
The WF associated with energy consumption is the second-highest sec-
tor contributing to the university's WF. The annual WF of the energy con-
sumption associated with a water supply and drinking water treatment in
the water sector was 5489.51 and 395.95 m3, respectively. As the WF asso-
ciated with energy accounts for 25% of the total WF, indicating that im-
proving energy efficiency at Kathmandu University will have significant
impacts on WF reduction when considering the energy-water system. The
energy sectors of Nepal mainly include electricity and diesel with per capita
of 174 kWh/yr and 232.44 kWh/yr, respectively (WorldData, 2021). In the
context of Kathmandu University, the electricity use is higher than the
country's average value i.e., 236.73 kWh/yr. As the university requires an
adequate amount of electricity to operate its laboratories, buildings and
other respective services, the value was found to be high. The university
uses diesel for transportation facilities and other purposes and therefore,
per capita consumption of diesel was found to be 199.25 kWh/yr. The ob-
tained value was lower than the average diesel's due to its limited usage.
The direct water consumption was the least only covering 10%
i.e., 63,432.22 m3/yr. In the context of Kathmandu Valley, the average
B. Vaidya et al. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

Fig. 5. (A) WF associated with different food items in Kathmandu University, (B) WF associated with food in Kathmandu University's food venture.

water footprint of individuals was estimated to be 1145.52 m3/yr
(Shrestha and Khadka, 2015). This is found to be high in comparison
with the university's footprint as per capita daily water use of inhabi-
tants of the valley appears to be 3138 L including water use in food
items, industrial water use and domestic water use (Shrestha and
Khadka, 2015).
3.5. Comparative analysis of WF among universities
A comparative analysis has been carried out among Keele University
(England) (Gu et al., 2019), the University of Virginia (United States of
America) (Natyzak et al., 2016), and this study at Kathmandu University
(Nepal). Among the three Universities, as shown in Table 3, the University

7
B. Vaidya et al. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

Fig. 6. Direct WF in different blocks of Kathmandu University.

of Virginia has the highest WF that amounts to 13,600,000 m3/yr (Natyzak the lowest per capita WF of 140.65 L/day. The per capita WF of Keele Uni-
et al., 2016) with a per-capita WF 1174.17 L/day followed by Kathmandu versity is 8.34 times lower and Kathmandu University is 3.64 times lower
University with a WF of 628,375.55 m3/yr and a per-capita WF 513.19 than that of the University of Virginia.
L/day calculated based on direct and indirect water consumption by the The WF associated with energy contributes a greater proportion in
total number of students and staffs. The University of Virginia is located Keele University and the University of Virginia since these universities lie
in the USA which has a comparatively large water footprint i.e. 2480 in developed nations, with a huge inclination towards the energy sector.
m3/cap/yr in comparison to the global average i.e. 1240 m3/cap/yr The contribution of the food sector was highest in Kathmandu University
(Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007) and also the population of the university which is a key sector contributing to the higher university's WF as the uni-
was relatively high than other two universities as shown in Fig. 8. Keele versity is far from the urban area, major portion of the students and staffs
University has the lowest WF 532,415 m3/yr (Gu et al., 2019) along with have meals in the canteens thus contributing to large food consumption.
In the comparative study, Keele University has the lowest WF which may
have resulted due to the adoption of water efficiency measures which mea-
Table 2 sured 92,000 m3 of water being saved, the water efficiency measures in-
WF of Kathmandu University.
cluded an active leak detection and management plan, combined with
Sectors WF (m3/yr) careful monitoring of water use to reduce demand (Gu et al., 2019). All
Direct water consumption University operation 63,432.22 the wastewater produced (247,879 m3/yr) at Keele University was treated
WF associated with Energy Energy consumption within the campus 151,983.66 by a wastewater treatment plant operated by a third-party before discharge
(Electricity, Diesel and LPG)
(Gu et al., 2019). These measures have resulted in a relatively lower WF of
Energy consumption of water supply 5489.51
Keele University. Similar measures could be adopted for KU as well as other
universities to reduce WF sustainably.
Energy consumption of drinking water 395.95
treatment plant
3.6. Possible measures for the reduction of WF at Kathmandu University
Sum of WF associated with energy 157,869.12
WF associated with Food Food consumption within three 407,074.12 The assessment of WF of the University shed light on various issues that
food ventures have direct and indirect impacts such as the reduction in food waste, poor
Total WF 628,375.55
maintenance and operation of the wastewater treatment plant and lack of

8
B. Vaidya et al. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

Fig. 7. WF contributions from the three sectors from the WEF system at KU.

WF awareness. These issues that contribute to the WF of Kathmandu Uni-
versity are the areas of unsustainable water use. Therefore, it is critical to
find WF reduction measures that address the issues. Hence, a survey was
carried out for determining possible WF reduction measures at KU from
the perception of staff and students (Fig. 9). While studying the individual
perspectives, treatment of wastewater at the university got the highest re-
sponse, also the option of multiple selections was enabled among the
respondents.
This paper provide some suggestive measures that can be taken into ac-
count by Kathmandu University and institutions willing to plan and operate
sustainably. These measures could equally be applied to other universities
and campuses. For example, solar Photo Voltaic (PV) can be installed to re-
duce the grid electricity energy demand and improve energy production ef-
ficiency, and hence also reduce indirect WF. The analytical framework
based on WFs as proposed in this paper provides a tool for a more compre-
hensive understanding of the environmental impacts of a university's

Table 3
Comparison of WF among Universities.
University Direct WF WF associated with food (m3/yr) / % WF associated with energy (m3/yr) / % Total WF Per-capita WF
(m3/yr)/ Contribution Contribution (m3/yr) (L/day)
% Contribution

Kathmandu 63,432.22 407,074.12 157,869.12 628,375.55 513.19

University 10% 65% 25%
Keelea University 13,046.00 214,046.00 305,323.00 532,415.00 140.65
2.45% 40.20% 57.34%
University of 1,135,600.00 4,530,000.00 7,934,400.00 13,600,000.00 1174.17
Virginiaa 8.35% 33.30% 58.30%
a
Calculated based on data from (Gu et al., 2019) for Keele University and (Natyzak et al., 2016) for the University of Virginia.

Fig. 8. Water footprint and relative population of different Universities.

9
B. Vaidya et al. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability 3 (2021) 100044

Fig. 9. Possible WF measures for Kathmandu University based on respondent's perspective (for staffs n = 28; for student, n = 167, where n is number of respondents).

operations and food consumption, thus allowing the improvement of strat-
egies for future sustainable campus developments and assessment. Based on
the analysis from Kathmandu University, some suggestive measures for the
reduction of WFs are provided in Fig. 10.
KU had constructed a wastewater treatment plant based on constructed
wetlands treatment technology with a capacity of 35 m3/day. It can treat
11,725 m3/yr of the wastewater generated within the university and calcu-
lated 18% of the total generated wastewater that can be used for
landscaping purposes. However, it is not functional and the design period
has already been exhausted, therefore, it needs higher capacity with
upgradations. The adoption of efficient taps such as sensor taps and the
dual flush systems can significantly contribute towards sustainable water
use in the university. The average rainfall in the Dhulikhel is around
1711 mm: more than the world average of 1155 mm (WWO, 2020). Rain-
water from roofs and surface runoff from buildings and surrounding areas
can be collected and channeled to groundwater recharge pits (Shrestha,

Fig. 10. Suggestive WF measures for Kathmandu University.

10
B. Vaidya et al.
2009). Likewise, the university has adopted the idea of rainwater harvest-
ing by installing a collection tank in few buildings such as Shed blocks
near Aquatic Ecology Center and the central library as well (Fig. 10). The
obtained results of the food-water system have shown that more sustainable
food consumption decisions can be a key way to reduce university's WF as
calculated 10,050 kg/yr food could be wasted in Kathmandu University's
food ventures. The adoption of multiple diet shifts by the university's mem-
bers can reduce GHG emissions along with trade-offs that would reduce WF
(Boyer and Ramaswami, 2017). For example, shifts in diet composition
from the current diet to a vegetarian diet had the greatest impact on reduc-
ing the footprint such as combinations of reducing caloric intake from 2600
to 2000 kcal/d combined with a 50% reduction in food waste (Wood, Alam,
and Dupras, 2019). The food waste can be diverted towards renewable en-
ergy production such as biogas (methane) which could generate a calcu-
lated 4165.41 m3 biogas/ton of food waste (US EPA, 2020), therefore, if
used for cooking can potentially reduce LPG usage in the food ventures at
KU. The implementation of alternative energy sources could reduce WF as-
sociated with energy in the university. For alternative clean energy devel-
opment, the university has installed solar panels in one of its blocks as the
annual average for daily solar radiation of KU was found to be 4.76 kWh/
m2/day with an average clearness index of 0.531 which indicates that it
has great potential, and this approach could be implemented in other blocks
receiving maximum solar radiation (Sah, Shrestha, and Papadakis, 2018).
4. Conclusions
This study examines an integrated WF framework based on the analysis
performed to understand the WF associated with energy, food, and water
systems. The total WF of Kathmandu University was 628,375.55 m3/yr
with a per-capita WF of 513.19 L/day. The analysis reveals that the great
amount of food consumption within Kathmandu University is the key sector
contributing to the highest WF associated with food contributing to 65%,
followed by the energy sector (25%) and direct WF (10%) of the total
WF. The high contribution of food sectors in WF at Kathmandu University
demands measures such as promoting responsive behavior towards food
consumption, and collection of all the food waste for energy generation
from anaerobic digestion should be prioritized. WF associated with the en-
ergy sector could be minimized by prioritizing alternative sources of energy
(i.e., solar PV). Similarly, for the reduction of direct WF, measures such as
installing water-efficient technologies, operation of a wastewater treatment
plant, and rainwater harvesting & artificial recharge could be implemented.
This study methodology and results in this study can be relevant to other
universities willing to conduct a similar study and can serve as a baseline
for better planning and operation of a sustainable campus.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the faculties at the Department of Environmen-
tal Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University for their critical com-
ments and suggestions on the outcomes of this study.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interests
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.crsust.2021.100044.
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