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Survey of Water Use in Manufacturing [Mineral Industries]
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The Survey of Water Use in Manufacturing was collected in three separate years as part of the Annual Survey of Manufactures, and the last collection was in 1983. The survey covered all firms that reported using more than 20 million gallons of water on the Census of Mineral Industries. It reported statistics by 4-digit SIC, by state, and by water use region by major industry group (2-digit SIC). It collected water intake (millions of gallons), source (public water, surface water, groundwater, tidewater, other), and type (fresh, brackish, salt). Respondents specified the purpose (e.g. process, steam power generation, cooling) by each type. Respondents were also required to report on discharge into seven different points (utility sewer, steams and rivers, lakes and ponds, bays and estuaries, ocean, ground, or transfer), and whether or not the discharge was treated. They also reported on the type of treatment. In 1973 and 1978, information was also collected on water expenditures, including treatment capital, investment, and costs.
Detailed Methodology
The sample includes all manufacturing establishments in the Census of Manufactures.
All but one Census of Manufactures (CM) from 1954-1987 asked every manufacturing establishment its range of water intake and occasionally related questions (e.g., on recirculation, principal source, kind of water). Those establishments reporting at least 20 million gallons of annual water intake received the Survey of Water Use in Manufacturing (SWUM) the following year (i.e., 1954, 1959, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1978, and 1983; the survey was discontinued for funding reasons just prior to the planned 1988 survey). The aggregate statistics from the SWUM surveys were published in the respective CM volumes. The situation was identical for mining facilities, the Census of Mineral Industries, and the Survey of Water Use in the Mineral Industries.
Until its discontinuation, the SWUM produced statistics by detailed industry (4-digit SIC), by state, and by water use region by major industry group (2-digit SIC). The SWUM collected water intake (in millions of gallons) from five sources (public water system; surface water; groundwater; tidewater; other) by three types (fresh; brackish; salt). Respondents were also asked to report their water intake for seven purposes (e.g., process; steam electric power generation; other cooling & condensing) and by type. In addition to water intake, respondents were asked to report the gallons of gross water use by the seven purposes, where gross water use is the water intake for a particular purpose plus the water recirculated for that purpose. Respondents were sometimes asked about the treatment of intake and recirculated water, by method. The SWUM also collected data on water discharged into seven different points (public utility sewer; streams & rivers; lakes & ponds; bays & estuaries; ocean; ground; transfer) and by whether the water was treated or not. Respondents were also asked to report their water discharge by the water's final purpose and by whether the water was treated or not. Respondents were further asked to report their water discharge by eleven types of treatment. The 1973 and 1978 surveys also collected information on water-related expenditures -- the only two years of the survey to do so -- including details on water treatment assets, investments, and operating costs. The information collected on the SWUM varied somewhat over time, in both detail and in scope.