What's Your Water Footprint?

by Swaha Devi

Consider this: North America has 7 percent of the world’s population and 15 percent of the world’s fresh water. Yet between water waste and climate changes, we could face water shortages in 36 states within the next 10 years. So now is the time for all of us to become aware, not only of our carbon footprint but of our water footprint. Fortunately, taking a global perspective suggests there is a lot we can do fairly quickly. The average American uses about 100 gallons of water a day — almost twice as much as the French and Germans — while people in some tribal communities traditionally use fewer than 10 gallons, and people in refugee camps survive on fewer than two.

Some easy places to conserve water at home are when we’re doing laundry, washing dishes, and during our daily personal hygiene. Together these three activities use up about half of our indoor water consumption. (Showers use significantly less water than baths; and waiting for your dishwasher to be full instead of doing multiple small loads will cut your usage — and your energy bill — dramatically.)

Toilets and leaks in the home account for the remainder of most people’s indoor use. Our typical American toilet flushing can consume as much water as a person in a developing country uses all day; and a leaking toilet can waste 200 gallons a day. Similarly, about half of outdoor watering is estimated to go to waste. A new type of sprinkler called MP Rotators may be more efficient than drip systems.

But it’s not only our direct water usage that adds up. It’s also the water needed in the processing of things we eat, wear, or use. It takes about 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. Water is needed to produce cotton, paper, electricity, and other things we use every day.

Unless we live off the grid, obtaining our water also requires major infrastructure for storage, purification, and delivery. The cost is not only financial but also ecological, including diverting water and loss of habitat in some regions.

The inequality in water consumption among different societies has to be part of the larger discussion on sustainability. The high water footprint for producing maize, for instance — which is in demand for alternative fuel — is already causing food and water shortages in poor areas of the world.

If we conserve now, we can ease all the burdens, both seen and unseen, and sleep well, knowing we have lightened our footsteps on the planet.

To calculate your own personal water footprint, go to www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/WaterFootprintCalculator.