Each Briton uses 4645 litres of water per day

Macha

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/20/water.food1

"The study makes the first attempt to measure the UK's total "water footprint" and highlights the extent to which our imports come from countries which are running out of fresh water. It calculates that:

· Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much in "virtual water", used in the production of imported food and textiles;

· Taking virtual water into account, each of us soaks up 4,645 litres a day;

· Only Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China and Italy come higher in the league of net importers of virtual agricultural water. People in poorer countries typically subsist on 1,000 litres of virtual water a day;"

Damn that's a lot of water...I'm guessing Ireland's is somewhere around the same figure.

DUMBOBLONDE

taconnol wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/20/water.food1

"The study makes the first attempt to measure the UK's total "water footprint" and highlights the extent to which our imports come from countries which are running out of fresh water. It calculates that:

· Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much in "virtual water", used in the production of imported food and textiles;

· Taking virtual water into account, each of us soaks up 4,645 litres a day;

· Only Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China and Italy come higher in the league of net importers of virtual agricultural water. People in poorer countries typically subsist on 1,000 litres of virtual water a day;"

Damn that's a lot of water...I'm guessing Ireland's is somewhere around the same figure.

what a pile of rubbish.

"virtual water". Wait a minute if a scientist says so, it must be true.


why do they not just cut the rubbish, come straight out with it.

"We are going to introduce water charges, you lot are the plebs. You need water to live, therefore you have no choice but to pay"

bonkey

DUMBOBLONDE wrote: »

what a pile of rubbish.

Rubbish...no. Misleading, certainly.

why do they not just cut the rubbish, come straight out with it.

"We are going to introduce water charges, you lot are the plebs. You need water to live, therefore you have no choice but to pay"

I'm guessing because:

- The Guardian is an English paper
- The English already have water rates
- Therefore, preparing the public for the introduction of charges that already exist is a bit pointless.

Macha

God I posted it in here to get away from you Dumboblonde.

Bonkey, what do you mean by misleading?

bigtime

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/printable/5603/

What, some truth???

tolosenc

But as a footprint, should we not include that amount of the crap that falls down on the county per day aswell?

bonkey

taconnol wrote: »

Bonkey, what do you mean by misleading?

For a start, the notion that there is "virtual water inequality" between rich and poor countries is just a different way of saying "we use more stuff". If you're allocating whatever-number of litres for a cup of coffee, or a new pair of shoes, or the food we eat, then of course thats going to show up as a discrepancy between what the developed world uses and what the poorer nations use.

Secondly, without seeing the method of calculation, I'm skeptical of the figures.

I like in Switzerland and grow veg in my garden. Lets say I use an average of 10L of water for every cucumber I get from my cucumber plot. Is that adding a "virtual cost" of 10L/cucumber? If so, then what about the reality that much of this water will go into the soil, re-enter the water system, and end up in a river which flows through much of Europe, producing water which is used, and re-used, and re-used.

Just how many times will that liter be counted "virtually"? Is it not a good thing that the water will be used-and-reused, rather than used once?

If the water is counted more than once, the figures are misleading. All they really say - at the end of the day - is that we consume more in the developed world than people in poor countries do. That's hardly news, is it?

Macha

yes I see what you mean. I suppose the aim of the research was to show people that there are extensive repercussions of their lifestyles.

From my point of view, everyone is so hung up on climate change, that people forget/don't realise that they don't just have to think about their carbon emissions but their use of resources in general. Climate change has totally taken over.