1 cotton T-shirt 2500 litres
Source: Unesco-IHE Institue for Water Education (2005) The Water Footprint for Cotton Consumption, p. 21.
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report18.pdf
Link: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-impact-of-a-cotton-t-shirt (2013)
1 pair of jeans 8000 litres
Source: Unesco-IHE Institue for Water Education (2005) The Water Footprint for Cotton Consumption, p. 21
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report18.pdf
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/personal-water-footprint/
1 avocado 227 litres
Source: Unesco-IHE Institue for Water Education (2010) The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Crops and Derived Crop Products, p. 20
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/en/about-us/news/news/grace-launches-new-water-footprint-calculator/
1 bottle of wine 630 litres
Source: Unesco-IHE Institue for Water Education (2010) The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Crops and Derived Crop Products, p. 16
Link: https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf
Water footprint
Through production and consumption of food and goods we leave our biggest water footprint
Source: World Water Council & United Nations Water UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Consumption
Access to safe water
2.2 billion people live without access to safe water, of which the majority live in the least developed countries.
Sources: Unicef & WHO, 2019. Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. 2000-2017, p. 6
Safe water access: Drinking water from an improved water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination (‘improved’ sources include: piped water, boreholes or tube wells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water).
Access to basic water
785 million people live without even basic water access.
Sources: Unicef & WHO, 2019. Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. 2000-2017, p. 6
Basic water access: Drinking water from an improved source, provided collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip, including queuing
1,000 children under the age of 5 die every day as a result of unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene
Source: Prüss-Ustün et al., 2014. Burden of disease from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene in low and middle‐income settings: a retrospective analysis of data from 145 countries, p. 1
Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tmi.12329
Source: WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme). 2017. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2017. Wastewater: The Untapped Resource. Paris, UNESCO.
Link: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247153
Link: https://www.unicef.org/media/media_68359.html
Link: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
80% of all wastewater returns to the environment without proper treatment
Source: WWAP, 2017 (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme). 2017. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2020. Wastewater: The Untapped Resource. Paris, UNESCO, p. 2
Link: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247153
Link: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
Urbanisation
By 2050 2.5 billion more people are expected to live in cities, which accounts for 68% of the population. Nearly 90% of this increase is expected to take place in Africa and Asia.
Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Link: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html
Business-as-usual will lead to a 40% gap between fresh water supply and demand by 2030
Source World Bank (2018).
Link: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/overview
Cities lose up to 60% of pumped water
Source: GWI Water Data Report 2019
Link: https://www.gwiwaterdata.com/data-hub/utilities
Energy consumption for space cooling in buildings has doubled since 2000
Source: International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Efficiency 2018 – Analysis and outlooks to 2040. IEA Market Report Series, sixth edition, p. 92
Link: https://webstore.iea.org/market-report-series-energy-efficiency-2018
Link: https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/cooling
Climate change will cause heavier rainfalls leading to floods and inflow of seawater
Source: WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme)/UN-Water. 2018. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-Based Solutions for Water. Paris, UNESCO.
Link: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000261424
Sources: United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, OECD 2016, Financial Management of Flood Risk, World Meteorological Organization Integrated Drought Management Programme)
London and Mexico City are running out of water
Source: Circle of Blue:: Zeropolis – Big Cities, Little Water
Link: https://www.circleofblue.org/zeropolis/
Source: W12 Congress
Link: https://www.w12-congress.com/about-the-w12/
Today, industries account for nearly 20% of all water consumption
Source: UNESCO (2012) United Nations world water development report 4: managing water under uncertainty and risk
Link: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000215644
Link: http://www.fao.org/aquastat/en/overview/methodology/water-use
Globally, we are losing an average of 30% of all pumped fresh water
Source: Quantifying the global non-revenue water problem, R. Liemberger and A. Wyatt, p. 834
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_Wyatt/publication/326238463_Quantifying_the_global_non-revenue_water_problem/links/5e9df9e54585150839ef34b8/Quantifying-the-global-non-revenue-water-problem.pdf?origin=publication_detail
Water scarcity in Mexico City
Source: Circle of Blue: Floods and Water Shortages Swamp Mexico City
Link: https://www.circleofblue.org/2018/latin-america/floods-water-shortages-swamp-mexico-city/
Source: W12 Congress
Link: https://www.w12-congress.com/about-the-w12/
By 2050, 40% of the world’s population is projected to live under severe water stress
Source: UNWD 2020
Link: https://www.unwater.org/publications/world-water-development-report-2020/
Flooding affects approximately 250 million people worldwide and causes USD 40 billion in losses on an annual basis
Source: OECD 2016 - Financial Management of Flood Risk, p. 9
Link: https://www.oecd.org/daf/fin/insurance/OECD-Financial-Management-of-Flood-Risk.pdf
Examples of non-revenue water (NRW) per country are:
United Kingdom 21%, Mexico 40%, United States 20%, Sweden 40%, Liberia 49%, Armenia 83%, China 21% and Venezuela 62%.
Source: R. Liemberger; A. Wyatt : Quantifying the global non-revenue water problem, Appendix
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_Wyatt/publication/326238463_Quantifying_the_global_non-revenue_water_problem/links/5e9df9e54585150839ef34b8/Quantifying-the-global-non-revenue-water-problem.pdf?origin=publication_detail
Emissions and climate change
Energy production accounts for 73% of CO2 emission – playing a critical role in climate change
Source: United Nations Water
Source: World Resource Institute
Link https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector
Consumer behaviour
Changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns are expected to increase demand for water and energy by approximately 40% and 50% respectively by 2030.
Source: The European Commission: growing Consumerism
Link: https://ec.europa.eu/kno wledge4policy/foresight/topic/growing-consumerism_en
Today, more than 2 billion people are affected by water stress.
Sources: United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, UNWD Report 2018, page 14
Link:https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2018/TheSustainableDevelopmentGoalsReport2018-EN.pdf
40% of the EU’s entire energy consumption comes from buildings, making them the largest energy consumer*. With more intelligent and energy efficient solutions in buildings, we can change this.
Source: European Commission Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
Link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/focus-energy-efficiency-buildings-2020-feb-17_en
Los Angeles, water scarcity
Due to severe water scarcity, Los Angeles imports more water than any other large city in the world, as water imports make up a full 80% of the city’s total water use.
https://la.curbed.com/2018/2/6/16960006/los-angeles-cape-town-water-shortage-drought
https://www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/article_1038126_jspg170202.html
Istanbul, flooding and rising sea levels:
Istanbul is exceptionally exposed to floods and coastal inundation, and it is estimated that rising sea levels and storm surges will cost the city as much as $200 mil. annually until 2030:
https://www.iklim.istanbul/wp-content/uploads/%C3%96zetRapor%C4%B0ngilizce.pdf
Quangzhou, pollution:
In 2015, Guangzhou produced more than 1.6 billion tons of wastewater, from which microplastics were released into the Pearl River through sewage discharge, runoff, and industrial wastewater. The amount of plastic waste discharged annually from the Pearl River into the South China Sea is estimated to be about 136,000 tons.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2691
Water scarcity
Four billion people, or two-thirds of the global population, live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least one month of the year. Half a billion people face severe water scarcity every day. This amount is projected to increase drastically towards 2050.
Source:
UNESCO, 2020. UN World Water Development Report 2020, p. 20-24; https://www.unwater.org/publications/world-water-development-report-2020/ (UN World Water Development Report 2020 et al. )
Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2016. Four billion people facing severe water scarcity, p. 1. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/2/e1500323
Cities in risk of water crisis:
Source: WRI – World Research Institute - Aqueduct™
Source: BBC, University of Arizona, UNESCO and SOSNPO
Link: https://www.w12-congress.com/about-the-w12/
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42982959
The UN states that access to clean water is a basic human right:
Source: UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, 2010.
Link: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/a-65-53-add1.pdf
Link: https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/64/292
Link: https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/human-rights/
Non-revenue water:
Globally, an average of 30% of all pumped water never reaches the tap. In many cities, the water loss is even higher and reaches 60%. The water is lost due to both leakages and theft. A few examples of non-revenue water (NRW) by country are: United Kingdom: 21%; Mexico: 40%; United States: 20%; Sweden: 40%; Liberia: 49%; Armenia: 89%; China: 21%; Venezuela: 62%.
Source: Liemberger & Wyatt, 2019. Quantifying the global non-revenue water problem – Appendix19; GWI, n.d. Utilities Database20.
https://iwaponline.com/ws/article/19/3/831/41417/Quantifying-the-global-non-revenue-water-problem
Source: GWI (Global Water Intel) (2019). Utilities Database.
https://www.gwiwaterdata.com/data-hub/utilities (NB gated content; Contact Grundfos if necessary)