Water = Life

The water cycle is an integral part of nature’s life cycle. For humans, animals and plants, everything begins with water: it is water that enables us to live, to eat and to develop.

Water is many things at once. It is the planet’s circulatory system, a natural environment and critical food reservoir (fish are the main source of protein for the world’s poor), a fundamental “ingredient” in every life form (including human beings, who are made up of 70% water) and an essential component in many economic activities.

Today we have the ability to replace certain products with others that are more environmentally friendly. For instance, concrete can replace wood in certain structures, while solar panels and wind power can reduce our dependence on energy derived from fossil fuels.

Water, however, is a non-renewable resource that is irreplaceable in most of its uses, whether agricultural, industrial or residential.

The varied uses of water

Agricultural uses

• Up to 100,000 litres of water to produce a kilo of beef.

• 4,500 litres of water to produce a kilo of rice.

• 1,500 litres of water to produce a kilo of wheat.

• 1,000 litres of water to produce a tonne of vegetables.

• 500 litres of water to produce a kilo of potatoes.

• 25 litres of water to produce one litre of beer.

Industrial uses

• An average of 200 m³ of water to produce a tonne of steel.

• Between 50 and 300 m³ of water to produce a tonne of paper.

• Close to 30,000 litres of water to manufacture a car.

• 1.4 billion litres of water to produce all the newsprint used each day throughout the world.

Residential uses

• Showers and baths account for 35% of the water we consume.

• Toilets account for 30%.

• Laundry, 20%.

• Cooking and direct consumption, 10%.

• Cleaning, 5%.

Unequal distribution

To satisfy their basic needs, human beings need between 20 and 50 litres of safe, uncontaminated water a day. Yet children born in developed countries consume 30 to 50 times more water than children born in developing countries.

Water is a mobile resource that flows from place to place, but it is unequally distributed. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for instance, 66% of inhabitants have running water in their homes or yards. In Asia, 49% of the population has easy access to running water, while in Africa, the proportion falls to just 24%.

In some areas where access is precarious and difficult, women and children—generally young girls—walk for kilometres every day just to fetch water. Worldwide, nearly 20 million girls do not go to school because they have to do this daily chore if their family is to survive.

Mankind has developed many ways to make water available, from building dams and digging canals to drilling deep into the ground. But while they may actually have water of their own, many poor countries do not have the technological and financial means to take advantage of these techniques.

Safe drinking water is a prerequisite for the fight against poverty and for sustainable development. We must begin by ensuring access to water. That means better distributing this limited and non-renewable resource—without which we cannot survive—and ensuring its protection for the future.