Few realise how much water it takes to get through the day. On average, we drink no more than five litres of the stuff. Even after washing and flushing the toilet, filling the swimming pool and hosing the car, Europeans get through only about 150litres each, though an average Australian manages to push that to 350litres a head. That may be profligate. But it is only when we add in the water needed to grow what we eat and drink that our personal water footprint really begins to soar.
According to statistics compiled by the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation,, it takes 2000 to 5000 litres of water to grow 1kg of rice. That is more water than many households use in a week for just a bag of rice. It takes 1000 litres, one tonne of water, to grow 1kg of wheat and 500 litres for 1kg of potatoes.
When you start feeding grain to livestock for animal products such as meat and milk, the numbers become yet more startling. It takes 11,000 litres to grow the feed for enough cow to make a hamburger; and 2000 to 4000 litres for that cow to fill its udders with one litre of milk. If you have a sweet tooth, so much the worse. Every teaspoonful of sugar in your coffee requires 50 cups of water to grow it. Which is a lot, but not as much as the 140 litres of water (or 1120 cups) needed to grow the coffee. Prefer alcohol? A glass of wine or a pint of beer requires about another 250 litres and a glass of brandy afterwards takes a staggering 2000 litres.
We are all used to reading detailed technical information on most food packaging about their nutritional content. Maybe it is time we were given some clues as to how much water it takes to grow and process the food.
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