Embedded Water

Embedded water is also known as virtual water. It is the amount of water used to produce food and non-food products. Most of the water we consume comes from embedded water in our foods, about 65%. A tomato has 13 litres of water embedded in it, where as a hamburger has 2400 litres. A hamburger uses this much water because a cow takes around 3 years to grow to the right size, but during this time the cow eats a lot of grains which requires 3060000 litres of water to grow. The cow also drinks over 34,000 litres of water in its life, and 7000 litres of water used for the slaughtering process. This totals to 3091000 litres of water to produce 200 kilos beef. Many of the products we use every day as well as industry uses are what have caused us to be in this water drought problem worldwide. That coffee habit you have of drinking 3 cups every day, well it takes 1100 drops of water to produce just one drop of coffee.

Do not forget this does not even include the water that we physically use every day in the shower or to wash our hands. This type of water that we use is described as domestic consumption, water that we use for cooking. The average for domestic consumption is around 137 litres of water. There are two types of this virtual water, the first is for industrial products that we consume every day, such as paper and clothes. This has an average use of 167 litres per day. The second is associated with the production of the food we consume. This amounts to an average of 3496 litres per day. This shows that 92% of the water we use is embedded water.

To get the public more in the know, companies in supermarkets and retailers could provide information about the amount of water embedded in goods. This could potentially get the public to demand that these places only get products that are produced with as little water as possible. Water stress is becoming a big problem that will affect us in our lifetime.

Another way you can help is by reducing the amount of meat you eat, a vegetarian consumes half the amount of water a meat-eating person uses. If you don’t want to become a vegetarian consider not eating meat for a day or cut out beef from your diet since it uses a lot of embedded water. Another method is to purchase meats that have been raised on grass. Although this may be expensive because the cheap meats are often fed on grain, or corn. Reduces the amount of waste we add to the environment can also waste less water overall. Goat and chicken are two meats with the lowest amount of water embedded in their production. Alcohol also requires quite a bit of water, so if you reduce the amount of drinks you have in a week you can save some water and live a healthier life.

The website below is a great way to find information that is put in a creative and interactive manner.  http://www.angelamorelli.com/water/

http://www.waterwise.org.uk/pages/embedded-water.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/embedded-water/