Gray Water Footprint of Pigs Slaughtered in Corede Serra/RS - Brazil

The pig activity, as well as other livestock activities, is directly dependent on natural resources and therefore the lack of knowledge about the impact on water resources in the cattle industry could compromise the sector's growth. In this context, the water footprint comes as a comprehensive indicator of water use that evaluates which is the fuel used, directly or indirectly, to produce a particular product throughout the supply chain. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the gray water footprint for pigs slaughtered in 2014 in Corede Serra/RS, in the confinement process. The gray water footprint in Corede Serra was 0.1346 km3. The municipalities of Parai (0.0142 km3), Nova Prata (0.0133 km3) and Serafina Correa (0.0103 km3) showed the largest footprints while the municipalities of São Marcos (0.00001 km3) and Bento Gonçalves (0.00002 km3) presented the smallest footprints. Because of the concentration of phosphorus in pig manure have presented a significant value (1.65 kg animal year-1) when evaluated under the total number of animals slaughtered in each municipality and considering the phosphorus concentration provided for in Conama Resolution n° 357/05, the demand is observed a large volume of water to phosphorus load assimilation. The gray water footprint can be reduced through the use of more efficient technologies for processing of manure, so that phosphorus is removed or reduced to low concentrations