Eco-column

Water flows from the skies and the eyes. Water is life, on that Genesis and science agree. If water is found on a remote planet, there is the possibility of life. Each Briton uses about 150 litres of tap water a day, but, if the water embedded within products is included, our water consumption is around 3400 litres every day!

About 70% of our water footprint comes from other nations, as we import goods and services into our country. About 65% of the water that we consume is in our food. A pint of beer has about 170 litres embedded in it; 200 litres in a glass of milk; 5000 litres in 1 kg of cheese. Water is embedded in industrial goods – about 400,000 litres in a car. (Calculate your water footprint at www.waterfootprint.org.)

‘Hidden Waters’, the Waterwise.org.uk report on Embedded Water, is on their website. So too are simple ways and products to use water without wasting it. Have a shower instead of a bath, but a power shower can use more than a bath. Dual-flush systems can be fitted to existing cisterns. Every drop counts. ‘Teamwork is great. Look at Niagara Falls - nothing but a lot of little drips working together.’