Hydroponic systems use significantly less water than soil-based farming for equivalent yield
Closed-loop hydroponic systems recirculate nutrient solution instead of losing water to soil percolation and evaporation, and commonly reported figures put water savings at up to 90% versus conventional soil agriculture for the same crop.
Pending corrections
The commonly-cited 90% figure is usually sourced from closed recirculating systems specifically β worth flagging that open/drain-to-waste hydroponic setups don't achieve anywhere near that reduction.
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For
This isn't just marketing β it follows directly from the mechanism. Soil farming loses water to deep percolation past the root zone and to evaporation from exposed soil; a closed hydroponic loop only loses what the plant actually transpires.
Against
The 90% figure gets thrown around without much qualification on system type. Open/flood-and-drain setups with frequent solution dumps look a lot less efficient than the closed NFT or aeroponic systems the number is usually quoted from.