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Waste reduction fast facts: Water
Garbage and recycling › Recycle at school › Fast facts about waste reduction › Water
This resource is not exhaustive nor is it all-inclusive, but can be cited and dated from primary and secondary sources. To find out more about the methodology or accuracy, contact the referenced source.
Metro does not validate nor endorse any of these facts.
- less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human uses. It is found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and in underground sources shallow enough to be tapped at affordable cost. Evaporation and precipitation make this water available on a sustainable basis. --World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/docstore/water_sanitation_health/vector/water_resources.htm - Of all water on earth, 97.5% is salt water, and of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, some 70% is frozen in the polar icecaps. --World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/docstore/water_sanitation_health/vector/water_resources.htm - Agriculture now accounts for about 70 percent of world water use, industry about 22 percent, and towns and municipalities about 8 percent. –Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society, January 2004, ISBN: 0-393-32539-3
- Global water use has more than tripled since 1950. -BBC News, Alex Kirby, "UN makes water point," Jan. 27, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2692253.stm - Global freshwater consumption rose 6-fold between 1900-1995, more than twice the rate of population growth. –Kofi Annan, “We the Peoples, Millennium Report,” 2000
www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/ch4.pdf - In 1999, the United Nations reported that 200 scientists in 50 countries had identified water shortage as one of the two most worrying problems for the new millennium (the other being global warming). –BBC News, Alex Kirby, “Dawn of a Thirsty Century,” June 2, 2000
www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/755497.stm - Groundwater represents about 90 percent of the world’s readily available freshwater resources. –Vital Water Graphics, Executive Summary, United Nations Environment Programme, 2002
www.unep.org/vitalwater/summary.htm - There are 36 states in the US that are going to experience serious to severe water problems in the next five to ten years. The Progressive, "The progressive interview; Maude Barlow," Volume 72, December 2008
- Just six countries; Brazil, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, China, and Colombia account for half of Earth’s total renewable freshwater supply. Canada ranks near the top of water wealth, with more than 92,000 cubic meters of water per inhabitant. At the water-poor end of the spectrum are Jordan with annual renewable supplies of 138 cubic meters per person, Israel with 124, and Kuwait with essentially none. –Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society, January 2004, ISBN: 0-393-32539-3
- The World Health Organization estimates that a person needs approximately 5 gallons of water each day for short term survival (drinking and cooking.) --World Health Organization
http://www.who.or.id/eng/contents/aceh/wsh/water-quantity.pdf - As many as 2 billion people won't have sufficient access to clean water by 2050. That figure is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2080 - nearly tripling the number who now do without it. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, April 2008 http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session28/doc13.pdf
- Polluted water is estimated to affect the health of 1.2 billion people, and contributes to the death of 15 million children annually. –Vital Water Graphics, Executive Summary, United Nations Environment Programme, 2002
http://www.unep.org/dewa/assessments/ecosystems/water/vitalwater/ - The EPA’s water quality inventory found that 45 percent of lakes, 39 percent of rivers and 51 percent of estuaries in the US were not clean enough to support recreational uses such as fishing and swimming. –Waste News, Annette Mirous, Oct. 14, 2002
- The world’s golf courses require 2.5 billions gallons of water a day for irrigation. This is the same amount of water needed to support 4.7 billion people per day. Golf courses also use pesticides and fertilizers that contribute to water pollution. –Worldwatch Institute, “Matters of Scale: March/April 2004, Planet Golf,” 2004
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/797 - Estimates vary, but each person in the U.S. uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day. The largest use of household water is to flush the toilet, and after that, to take showers and baths. –U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, “Water Q&A: Water Use At Home,” Last modified, March 18, 2004
http://water.usgs.gov/wid/index-resources.html - The average American uses over 100 gallons of water per day; the average residence uses over 100,000 gallons during a year. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/30th/factsheets/waterfacts.html#1
- The average North American consumes over 105 gallons of water a day compared to the average .European’s consumption of almost 53 gallons. The average person living in sub-Saharan Africa consumes only 2.4 – 5.3 gallons per day. –World Water Council, World Water Vision, 2000, ISBN 1-85383-730X
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/Vision/Documents/Chapter2.pdf - The irrigation of U.S. lawns and landscapes claims an estimated 7.9 billion gallons of water a day—a volume that would fill 14 billion six-packs of beer. –Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society, January 2004, I SBN: 0-393-32539-3
- On average, 50-70% of household water is used outdoors (watering lawns, washing cars). --U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/30th/factsheets/waterfacts.html#1 - Water use for electricity production in the U.S. has increased by almost 500 percent from 1950 to 2000. Irrigation water use increased by about 50 percent. –U.S. Geological Survey, “Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000,” USGS Circular 1268, revised April 2004, May 2004, February 2005
http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/control/revisions.html - Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 408 billion gallons per day were withdrawn for all uses during 2000. This total has varied less than 3 percent since 1985. –U.S. Geological Survey, “Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000,” USGS Circular 1268, revised April 2004, May 2004, February 2005
http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/control/revisions.html - A typical U.S. household washes 400 loads of laundry in one year. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Star, December 2002
- A conventional washer uses 40 gallons of water per full load of clothing, while the same load done in a certified Energy Star washer only uses 18-25. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Star, December 2002
- A household that does 3 loads of laundry per week will save 2,300 gallons of water each year by switching to an Energy Star appliance. Energy Star, Resource Efficient Clothes Washers Fact Sheet
http://www.mnpower.com/powerofone/one_home/energystar/appliances/factsheet_cw.pdf - To continue to ensure safe drinking water, the nation's water utilities will need to make an estimated $277 billion investment over the next 20 years. –Environmental Protection Agency, “2003 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, Third Report to Congress” EPA 816-R-05-001, June 2005
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/needssurvey/pdfs/2003/report_needssurvey_2003.pdf - It takes on average 39,090 gallons of water to manufacture a new car and its four tires; 62,600 gallons of water are needed to produce one ton of steel; 1,500 gallons to process one barrel of beer; and 9.3 gallons to process one can of fruit or vegetables. --U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sdwa/30th/factsheets/waterfacts.html#1 - The production of one kilogram of beef requires 16 thousand litres of water; To produce one cup of coffee we need 140 litres of water.
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home - According to government and industry estimates, about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (and by some accounts, as much as 40 percent is derived from tap water) -- sometimes with additional treatment, sometimes not. Natural Resources Defense Council, "Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?"
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp - City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria (bacteria that are indications of possible contamination by fecal matter). FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water). Natural Resources Defense Council, "Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/exesum.asp
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