An article on BBC today explains the problem with embedded water. We in the western world consume dangerously high volumes of water, in a world where a growing humanity must share a drier planet. As so often is, the real problem is hidden - UK consumers are said to see only 3% of the water they consume. The problem is not the water we drink in northern Europe, but the water used in the products we import from drier places.

The story is important but not new. What makes it stand out is BBC's clear and innovative graphics - a click informs me that producing a cup of tea needs 30 litres of water. To produce a cup of coffee it takes a little more - 140 litres. The most striking numbers might be the staggering 10,850 litres of water it takes to produce a pair of blue jeans, or the 70 litres it takes to produce an apple... In north european countries tons of fine apples rot away every autumn. How crippled has our economy become when we use irrigation to produce apples?

Photo creds: Bjorn Gutenstam/NWRB/GWP

Fresh water is still a luxury for too many world citizens. The World bank estimates that 12,6 % of the global population have no access to an improved water source. These numbers have not improved between 2005 and 2008.

The WHO give some further details what problems those figures bring:

About 2.6 billion people – half the developing world – lack even a simple ‘improved’ latrine and 1.1 billion people has no access to any type of improved drinking source of water. As a direct consequence:

• 1.6 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera) attributable to lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and 90% of these are children under 5, mostly in developing countries;
• 160 million people are infected with schistosomiasis causing tens of thousands of deaths yearly; 500 million people are at risk of trachoma from which 146 million are threatened by blindness and 6 million are visually impaired;
• intestinal helminths (ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm infection) are plaguing the developing world due to inadequate drinking water, sanitation and hygiene with 133 million suffering from high intensity intestinal helminths infections; there are around 1.5 million cases of clinical hepatitis A every year.

 

What could be worse than bad water? No water at all. That is threat that looms over a growing share of the world's population, living in countries where water resources are very heavily used. Given a growing population, and a warmer climate, most statistical projections look disastrous If we are to prevent the 'perfect storm', urgent action is necessary. says Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University in the BBC article, referring to an earlier statement by the UK Government's chief scientist John Beddington.

And this is where my imported blue jeans come into the picture - whereas the water for my shower is taken from Swedish reservoirs, my jeans are likely to be produced in a country where water is more scarce, and where it would be much more useful as drinking water, or someone elses shower.

Consumers may worry about this, but we are likely to increase their water footprint as we continue to use more and more energy, in spite of knowing the effects it has on the earth. We are caught in a consumerist pyramide game that goes on until the resources are finished - be it biodiversity, oil or water. Maybe a 'perfect storm' is exactly what we need to break the vicious circle?

I you're still interested, don't miss these Think3 posts:

• Are you ready for water wars by Henant
• Virtual water: let’s re-think the water management policies! by Hussam