Water consumption and wastewater discharge in China's steel industry

China's steel industry is one of the major water consuming and wastewater discharge-producing industries. Based on a water flow model, this study provides reasonable and clear definitions of water usage indexes for steel production. Using a survey of key producers, the status and problems of water consumption and wastewater discharge in Chinese steel industry are analyzed. The developments of water conservation and emission reduction are divided into three different stages, and present a slide decreasing curve. At the process level, coking is the heaviest pollution unit, while ironmaking and steelmaking are key parts of water consumption. Although the water resource efficiency has been significantly improved, the water usage level of key producers in China has exceeded the average world steel level; however, it is still lower than other advanced countries. Therefore, some measures and recommendations need to be implemented for Chinese steel industry to save water and reduce emissions.