The document discusses water footprints and water scarcity issues around the world. It provides information on: - The definition of a water footprint and how it is calculated for individuals, communities, and businesses. - Global variations in water footprint usage per person per day and projections that water usage will grow faster than population. - Examples of water scarcity issues in places like Australia, South Africa, and shared river basins that can increase conflict. - The large water footprint of agricultural production, particularly cotton and how this impacts river systems. - Strategies for reducing individual and household water usage through technologies and practices. - The surprisingly large water footprint of common products like coffee, meat, and clothing and how choices

1. MT GRAVATT ROTARY CLUB
17th November 2015
What is
your Water
Footprint?
Carolyn McLean

2. What is a water footprint?
Water scarcity and water wars
water consumption and management
Low water Architecture and Master planning
Water footprint of everyday items

3. Water footprint of an individual, community or
business is defined as the total volume of fresh
water that is used to produce the goods and
services consumed by the individual or
community or produced by the business
www.waterfootprint.org

4. UN advises that water usage is growing at twice
the population growth.
By 2025, 2/3 of the world will be facing a water
‘stress’ situation
www.waterfootprint.org

5. Global water footprints/capita/day
Solomon Islands 2000 litres /person/per day
China 2900 litres /person/per day
India 3000 litres /person/per day
Indonesia 3100 litres /person/per day
Germany 3900 litres /person/per day
Saudi Arabia 5100 litres /person/per day
Australia 6300 litres /person/ per day
USA 7800 litres /person/per day
Mongolia 10000 litres /person/per day
www.waterfootprint.org

6. Water scarcity
South Australia
driest state in the driest country

7. Water scarcity
Water conservation and restrictions

8. Water scarcity
Water has always been a precious commodity

9. Water scarcity
The Murray Darling is the largest river system in
Australia.
The Murray Darling Basin accounts for over
70 % of irrigation in Australia

10. Water scarcity
Continuous years of drought have reduced the
river flow considerably

11. Water scarcity
Cotton, one of the world’s most water intensive
crops is grown along the Murray Darling in
Queensland and Upper New South Wales

12. Water scarcity
A direct result of the cotton industry is the
continual closing of the Murray Mouth in South
Australia due to lack of water flow
The Murray mouth now needs to be dredged of
1300m3 of sand every day to keep it open

13. Water wars
Around the world today, water wars are increasing
Water is the new oil and as the natural supply
decreases and demand increases the situation is
now a global crisis
Over 260 river basins are shared by two or
more countries.
When major projects proceed without regional
collaboration, they can become a point of
conflicts, heightening regional instability. The
Parana La Plata, the Aral Sea, the Jordan and
the Danube may serve as examples.

14. Water wars
Australian states are constantly arguing about which
state uses how much water from the river systems.
Somali clans are fighting for water in east Africa.
The Israeli occupation of Palestine is in part to
secure a fresh water supply.
The US govt sees the reduction in water availability
as an equal threat as terrorism, and cyber-terrorism
of infra-structure.
Water wars ‘hot spots’ are being identified to try and
resolve these issues before the situation reaches war

15. Water scarcity
Water problems affect half of humanity:
1.1 billion people have inadequate access to
water
2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.

16. Water scarcity
Millions of women spending several hours
a day collecting water.
massive economic waste associated with
the water and sanitation deficit
Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of
GDP, or some $28.4 billion annually, a
figure that exceeds total aid flows and
debt relief to the region in 2003
2006 United Nations Human Development Report

17. Water scarcity
– 85% of people in wealthy countries have
access to piped water
– 25% of people in the poorest countries have
access to piped water
– 1.8 billion people who have access to a water
source within 1 kilometre, but not in their
house or yard, consume around 20 litres per
day.
– In the United Kingdom the average person
uses more than 50 litres of water a day
flushing toilets
– 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result
of diarrhoea

18. Water consumption & management
"There is a water crisis today. But the crisis is
not about having too little water to satisfy our
needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly
that billions of people - and the environment –
suffer badly."
World Water Vision Report
Leaking pipes alone account for between 30-50% of
water loss globally.
In the UK, approx. 2 full baths of water / household/
day is lost through leaking pipes.

19. Water consumption & management
Water consumption varies hugely across the
world
20% of the worlds richest people consume
76% of the water

20. Water consumption & management
Agriculture is the largest use of water
globally, typically using around 67% of water
resources

21. Water consumption & management
Water and Energy are inextricably linked due to
the desalination process, so every drop of water
saved is an energy saving.
Desalination is the most energy-intensive form of
water supply.
There are now over 7,500 plants in 18 countries
producing approximately 35,000 million litres of
fresh water per day.
Saline concentrated water of about twice the
concentration of normal sea water is produced as
a by product of desalination.
We need to minimise water consumption to
reduce the energy required for desalination.

22. Water consumption & management
One of the Sustainable Development Goals
decided at the UN summit on 25th September
2015, Clean water and Sanitation plans to:-
Ensure access to safe and
affordable drinking water by
2030.

23. Water consumption & management
ARE YOU CONCERNED YET?
IF NOT, YOU SHOULD BE
IF YOU THINK IT WON’T AFFECT
YOU…….YOU’RE WRONG
IF YOU THINK YOU PERSONALLY
CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT
……YOU’RE WRONG

24. Low water architecture and
master planning
As professionals and educated people we have
the power to change things
During our working life we all deal with water,
use water, waste water and take it for granted
If we started from today to make more of
an effort in our professional lives to reduce water
consumption wherever possible through our
Projects we could have a major impact on water
consumption and water wastage.
We need to get more passionate and inventive
about solving this problem

25. Low water architecture and
master planning
Low flow fittings are now requirements in most
developed countries to reduce water consumption.
Dual flush toilet 5 litres / flush
Standard toilet 11 litres/flush
Low flow AAA shower head 7.5 litres / minute
Standard shower head 12 litres/ minute
Standard bath 96 litres

26. Low water architecture and
master planning
AAAA front loading washine machine 40 litres / load
top loading washine machine 130 litres / load
Drip irrigation & timers for garden 651 litres / week
Standard garden watering 1116 litres / week
Tap off while cleaning teeth 1 litre / minute
Tap running while cleaning teeth 5 litres / minute

27. Low water architecture and
master planning
Rain water tanks can be re-introduced to council
areas that have been negative about them.
Master planned communities can incorporate bio-
retention swales to treat secondary sewer and
provide water for irrigation to landscaped areas.
Leaking pipe infrastructure could be replaced to
reduce wastage.

28. High water developments
–An average 18-hole golf course
soaks up at least 525,000 gallons of
water a day - enough to supply the
irrigation needs of 100 Malaysian
farmers.
–One definition of ecotourism is
“Responsible travel to natural areas
that conserves the environment and
improves the welfare of local
people” (TIES, 1990)
–The negatives could be turned
into positives with responsible,
sustainable development

29. Water footprints of everyday products
The water footprint of a product is the amount of
water that is consumed and polluted in all
processing stages of its production.

30. 76 litres of water to
produce a 250ml glass of beer
109 litres of water
to produce a 250ml glass of beer
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

31. 132 litres of water
to produce a 125 litre cup of coffee
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

32. 196 litres of water
to produce a 60g egg
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

33. 237 litres of water
to produce a kg of lettuce
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

34. 910 litres of water
to produce a kg of peaches
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

35. 1600 litres of
water to produce a kg of bread
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

36. 2497 litres of
water to produce a kg of rice
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

37. 2500 litres of
water to produce a 250ml glass of
milk
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

38. 4325 litres of
water to produce 1kg of chicken
meat
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

39. 10,000 litresof water to produce a kg of cotton
250g of cotton used to make a
T shirt uses
2500 litres of
water
800g of cotton used to make a
pair of jeans uses 8000
litres of water
Water footprints of everyday products

40. 10,400 litresof water to produce a kg of lamb
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

41. 15,415 litresof water to produce a 1kg of beef
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

42. 17,000 litresof water to produce a leather bag
– Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011)
Water footprints of everyday products

43. 20,000 litresof water to produce a 1kg of cocoa
Chocolate requires
17,000 litresto produce 1 kg
Water footprints of everyday products

44. Each person in this room can reduce their water
footprint simply by
Being aware of what you consume
Knowing the water footprint of that product
and
making educated lifestyle choices.
Thank you