One of my favorite features in Fortune magazine is called The Chartist, a graphical analysis of any number of various topics.
With all the bottled water we swig and all the showers we take, one would think people consume most of the earth’s water. In fact, according to the Chartist’s excellent graphs, agriculture accounts for 71% and industry for 16% of global water use. A pair of blue jeans requires 2,906 gallons, most of it from growing cotton. A car requires 104,000 gallons, most of it from rubber. It takes 252 gallons to make a pair of rubber gloves, while a pound of steel uses 31 gallons. And it takes 71 gallons of H2O to produce an 8 oz. cup of Starbucks. (That company, by the way, plans to cut its water use by 25% in the next 4 years with more efficient machines).
Who uses the most water per capita? It’s the US at 2,057 gallons. Australia uses 1,675: Argentina 1,163: Russia 1,340: Sweden 1,033: China 775: and the Congo 400. The world average is 1,003 gallons per capita per day.
And who pays the most for 100 gallons of tap water? Copenhagen is highest at $3.03, followed by Paris at $1.48, London at $0.73, Phoenix at $0.59, Tokyo at $0.46, NYC at $0.39, Moscow at $0.24, Shanghai at $0.07, Mumbai at $0.04, and Buenos Aires at $0.01.
Expanding populations in developing nations will swell the demand for agricultural water some 42% by 2013. The hope is that OM can find new technologies to grow more with less water by then.
Discussion questions:
1. How can OM help solve the water shortage problems being faced in many parts of the world?
2. Will water be the gold of the 21st century?