Today is World Water Day. The availability of clean potable water is diminishing around the globe. In fact, the Water Resources Group says that without more efficiencies put in place, by 2030 the demand for water worldwide will exceed availability by 40%.
Competition for water around the world may fuel instability in the next decade, especially in areas such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to a U.S. intelligence report.
In the United States, a recent study found that 10% of people living in California’s rural areas have drinking water contaminated with nitrates. Another study found that outbreaks of E. coli are common through contaminated freshwater.
Agriculture is the largest consumer of fresh water. Many studies have shown that producing meat takes an astonishing amount of fresh water.
- One pound of beef requires almost 1800 gallons of water to produce.
- A 1/3 pound burger requires 650 gallons of water.
- A pound of chicken requires 468 gallons of water.
- A pound of pork requires 576 gallons of water to produce.
Other products also take an enormous amount of water to produce. A gallon of wine requires more than 1,000 gallons of water, and one gallon of tea requires 127 gallons of water to produce.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent out a message today to mark World Water Day. He said,
“The theme of this year’s World Water Day is water and food security. Agriculture is by far the main user of freshwater. Unless we increase our capacity to use water wisely in agriculture, we will fail to end hunger and we will open the door to a range of other ills, including drought, famine and political instability.”
The average American uses 1800 gallons of water every day. Take the Water Footprint Calculator challenge to see if you can save water in your daily life.
