Water that was used in the production or creation of an item, but not contained within it. For a crop, it is the water it needed to grow (irrigated or rain-fed), taken up by its roots and lost via transpiration, and is usually 100s of times more than the water physically retained within the crop. It may also include water used to wash, process and transport it.
For a manufactured item (eg. a car, computer), it is the water used during its manufacture.
For clothing, it includes the water to create the raw material (eg. cotton or wool) as well as that used in manufacturing. Alternative terms are ‘virtual water’ and ‘water footprint’. There are a range of methods and approaches to evaluating embedded water. Some include total water use, others only net water use. Some include the principal manufacture, others include the complete supply chain (eg. mining of raw materials).