There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and there are one billion people in the world without access to safe drinking water, while only about 15% of the world's population have enough (and sometimes more than enough) drinkable water!
It is said that each one of us needs to drink about 2 to 4 litres of water every day. Good amount of water is consumed in production of the food we eat. For example: producing 1 kilo of beef consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat needs 1,500 litres of water. Unfortunately, 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost! In addition to the need of water for drinking, water is essential for socio-economic development and for maintaining healthy eco systems. Suggested minimum requirement is 20 litres/day of clean water, while average water use in Europe and the United States of America ranges between 200 and 600 litres/day!
There is scarcity of water. The growth in population, rapid development of urban areas and demand for clean water contribute significantly for the scarcity of water. The scarcity is due to imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, competition/fight between the states in a country, inter-regional and international conflicts, all contributes to water scarcity.
Some of the solutions:
1. Integrations of rainwater into water management strategies, in addition to
focus exclusively on surface water and groundwater.
2. Consume less water-intensive products
3. Reduce the scandalous food wastage
4. Develop techniques to produce more food, of better quality, with
less water
5. Follow a healthier, sustainable diet
6. Connect the rivers within regions
7. Distribute resources equitably among people.
Friday, April 6, 2012
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