July 1, 2019

Water: an Infinite Resource?

70% of the earth is covered by water, but only 2.5% is freshwater. Of this 2.5%, only 1% is easily accessible for human consumption – the rest is locked up in polar ice caps and glaciers (5).

We all rely on water in our daily lives – probably in more ways than we realize. The most obvious way we use it is to nourish our own bodies and produce our food – both essential to our very survival.

It is also used for sanitation throughout our house like washing dishes, flushing toilets, and doing laundry. We use it for personal hygiene like brushing our teeth, washing our hands, and showering as well as to fight forest and house fires.

Water is crucial in many ways in our daily lives that may not be as obvious. This is often referred to as the “virtual” footprint of water. The greatest consumption of freshwater is actually thermoelectric power production (1). This type of power production accounts for 90% of the energy produced in the United States. Water is boiled to produce steam which is then used to turn the turbines that produce energy. Some plants (only 57%) actually re-use the water again in a process referred to as closed-cycle systems. They use less water in the long run because they are using the same water over and over again. The other 43% of plants only use the water once (2).

The use of water to produce energy can have devastating effects on the environment, particularly wildlife. When the water is being sucked into the plant, aquatic life can be injured or killed. Power plants also account for the largest source of thermal pollution. When the water is expelled back into the nearest creek or lake it is often warmer than normal, leading to negative effects on fish and other aquatic life (2).

Water is used to fuel the cars we drive to work every day. It takes an average of 3 to 6 gallons of water to produce just one gallon of gasoline. Ethanol, which is touted as a more environmentally friendly fuel, is even worse at up to 324 gallons of water per gallon (2)! This is because of the high irrigation demand of much of the corn used to produce ethanol.

Large amounts of water are also used to produce the clothing we wear (It takes 2,700 liters of water to produce one cotton t-shirt (6)!) and to cool our data centers.

You may be surprised how often water actually touches our day to day activities!

While some could argue that these uses for water are somewhat necessary in our current society, most of the time we go about water usage in a wasteful and thoughtless manner.

Irrigation is a prime example of wasting our freshwater resources. Yes, irrigation is required in some instances when it is used for growing the crops needed to sustain the human population. But there are many instances where it is completely unnecessary and honestly, quite irresponsible.

Watering our lawns, for example. The only reason people water their lawns is to keep them green. The only reason we try and keep them green is because society has deemed that as the appropriate way a lawn should look. There is literally no other reason to keep watering and wasting so much freshwater on something that produces no life sustaining substance [not to mention the amount of chemicals that go into this too…]. Golf courses are within the same vein as watering lawns. In fact, in 2005 it was estimated that 2.08 billion gallons were used PER DAY to water golf courses across the United States (3). While this may be a small number when comparing it to the total daily freshwater consumption (322 billion gallons per day in 2015 (4)), it is a completely unnecessary source.

A few other unnecessary uses for water are washing our cars and filling swimming pools. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy taking a dip in the pool in the dead of summer and take pride in keep my car relatively clean…but I think we can find ways to make both of these a little less wasteful.

Other ways we use water are a little more necessary, but are still done in a thoughtless manner. Running the water while brushing our teeth or doing dishes, small loads of laundry, and taking long showers are just a few that come to mind.

Bottled water may be a necessary resource in some areas that don’t have access to safe drinking water, but did you know that it is estimated to take 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water (7)?!

I am sure some of you are thinking, why is freshwater use such a big deal? Water is just recycled back into the atmosphere and comes down as rain in a continuous circle, constantly being replenished. So why should we even care?

Yes, it is true that water continuously replenishes itself and the water drank today was around when the dinosaurs roamed. The issue here is not the amount of water, but the amount of people trying to consume the water and the ways in which we are using it.

Remember at the beginning of this post when I said that only 1% of the freshwater on the earth was readily available for consumption? Well that 1% has to sustain over 7 billion people. It has to provide 7 billion people with enough water to do all of the things mentioned above – and even more!!

We are using water faster than it can be replenished. Energy, public consumption, and food production are all competing for this measly 1%.

The natural process of water replenishing itself through the water cycle is also broken – contributing to our water scarcity issues. When the water cycle functions as it should, rain falls onto the Earth and infiltrates into the ground. It then flows slowly through the soil profile, replenishing our groundwater, lakes, and rivers. The key word here is slowly. The slow movement allows for water to still be flowing into our water reservoirs and available to our plants even in times of drought.

The human population has completely disrupted our normal water cycle. Urbanization and destruction of the natural soil profile are two main culprits. Sidewalks, buildings, and roads do not allow rainwater to infiltrate into the soil. Depletion of our topsoil also causes the ground to essentially act like cement, shedding water as fast as it falls. Instead of allowing the ground to hold that water for times of drought, we are getting rid of it.

Our groundwater supplies (which provides 51% of the U.S. drinking water (8)) is dwindling because of this.

Climate change also plays a role in water scarcity. Rain events are becoming more variable and extreme. Instead of many rains over a longer period of time, we are getting downpours and then extended periods of dryness.

Unfortunately, water scarcity usually affects the poor and underdeveloped countries. Many of you reading this have access to clean water on a daily basis. You can go to your kitchen faucet, turn it on, and drink what comes out.

Where I live, our water utility pulls our drinking water from a nearby river before cleaning and distributing it. The river doesn’t look like it will go dry anytime soon, so why should I worry? Why should all of us privileged enough to have clean water worry?

Yes, you may be able to get drinkable water with the turn of a faucet now – but what about 10 years from now? What about tomorrow? The truth of the matter is that none of us know when we will be affected by water scarcity until it happens.

Take Cape Town, South Africa for example. It is about the size of Los Angeles, so not your typical underdeveloped area that sees water woes on a normal basis.

Water scarcity affects us in more ways than just not having clean water to drink.

Competition for a finite, vital resource could lead to an outbreak of wars.

Less water for sanitation could lead to epidemic of disease.

Populations would go hungry due to lack of irrigation for growing food.

The environment would also suffer greatly from water scarcity. Wetlands, which play a integral role in cleaning water naturally, are already disappearing at an alarming rate. Lakes are also decreasing in size leading to decreases habitat for fish [which is a food source for many] and other aquatic species. Dry areas are already becoming drier due to Climate Change – less water just makes the situation even worse.

There are so many other effects of water scarcity that I would have to write pages and pages in order to highlight them all. The one takeaway from this, though, is to see that water DOES affect almost every single aspect to our lives.

The first step in reducing our water consumption is to stop seeing water as an infinite resource and realize that water scarcity is a problem – for EVERYONE.

We need to recognize how much of an issue water scarcity is and make dramatic lifestyle changes in order to conserve this vital resource. Our life literally depends on it.

Throughout the week, I will highlight ways we can tackle many of the issues leading to water scarcity and changes we can make in our daily lives to conserve more water. Make sure your follow The Positive Footprint on Facebook, Instagram, or sign up for our mailing list so you don’t miss out!

Resources

Nature – The Best Medicine

The Scary Truth about Halloween

Water: an Infinite Resource?

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