Water pinch analysis (WPA) originates from the concept of heat
pinch analysis. WPA is a systematic technique for reducing
water consumption and
wastewater generation through integration of water-using activities or processes. WPA was first introduced by Wang and Smith.[1] Since then, it has been widely used as a tool for
water conservation in industrial process plants. Water pinch analysis has recently been applied for urban/domestic buildings.[2] It was extended in 1998 by Nick Hallale at the
University of Cape Town, who developed it as a special case of mass exchange networks for capital cost targeting.
Techniques for setting targets for maximum water recovery capable of handling any type of water-using operation including mass-transfer-based and non-mass-transfer based systems include the source and sink composite curves[3] and
water cascade analysis (WCA).[4] The source and sink composite curves is a graphical tool for setting water recovery targets as well as for design of water recovery networks.[5]
A 2018 study found by water pinch and water footprint analysis that for bricks with typical materials of clay and shale, the water consumption footprint was 2.02 L of water per brick.[6]