Waging war on industrial water consumption

Agriculture is the world’s largest water consumer, according to the “Global Water Security,” report (see Figure 1), and up to 95 percent of developing countries’ water supply is used for agriculture. In the U.S., about 35 percent of freshwater is consumed by agriculture, and thermoelectric power uses 49 percent of the water supply, according to the USGS Fact Sheet 2009-3098. Although industry consumes a lesser share, almost 5 percent of the water supply, that percentage still represents a large volume of freshwater; therefore, industry can play a major role in curbing the rate of water consumption. It may be surprising just how much industry consumes during processing. In his book, Simon cites that up to 7,060 gal. of water may be used to produce 1 ton of milk; 30,000 gal. to produce 1 ton of meat; 543,000 gal. to produce 1 ton of paper, and 27,500 gal. to produce 1 ton of recycled paper. Even though Simon’s 1998 figures are dated, these statistics offer a glimpse of the high ratio of water use per product. In manufacturing processes, water is used to generate electric power, to make steam for processing and cleaning, to cool or control process temperature, to rinse, to dilute food, and to formulate products containing water (such as in pharmaceuticals and beverages). How much water is required to produce a product varies, depending on how early in the process the meter starts to measure. These rates would be even higher if they included the water required to grow the crops or access the raw materials. Regardless of the method used to assess the total, clearly, industry consumes a staggering amount of water. Read more: http://j.mp/L2BOXF

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