More water info!

Water: The source of all life.

About 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water and 97% of this is salt water. Although the salt can be removed (desalination), it is a difficult and expensive process. 2% of the water on earth is glacier ice at the North and South Poles while less than 1% of all the water on earth is fresh water that we can actually use.

Embedded water, a hidden ecological problem

Various forecasts predict that the worlds population will exceed 8 billion in 20 years time, increasing global demand for food and energy with the need for fresh water rising by 30 percent. This will place an unsustainable stress on the worlds eco-systems. This could lead to a perfect storm, a term used by the UK governments chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, to describe future shortages of energy, food and water.

What many people fail to appreciate is that consumption goes beyond simple use of water in everyday life. There is the more important embedded water - the water used to grow food.