Water World

THE WATERING HOLE WATER WORLD Compare home water use in the U.S. to the U.K. and Canada and one alarming trend stands out: The only way to understand and appreciate the importance of water to our lives is to look at the data flowW. BY CHARLES FISHMAN 300 WE LIKE TO FLUSH E Volume of water used by U.S. toilets at home per flushes each day tons of water are required to manufacture person per day: 18.5 gallons 1 ton of steel. 5.7 billion gallons 250 each day by U.S. toilets at home RUN FOR THE MONEY Cost to India's economy from diarrhea caused by tainted water each year: $20 billion gallons of water are necessary to generate the electricity used at home by each American per day. billion 5.5 gallons Volume of water used by all ! !! !! !! homes in the U.K. and Canada for all purposes H EH (per day) 49 percent FOOD VS. WATER LOST IN THE PIPES Number of gallons of water that leak from utility pipes before reaching customers: U.S. water use devoted to generat- ing electricity Amount of water required to raise and process food for the average American's 2,000-calorie daily diet: U.S. 1 of 6 U.K. 1 of 5 528 1 of 4 ITALY gallons The U.S. uses more water in a day than it uses oil CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER CONSERVATION in a year. NATION COCA-COLA'S SECRET FORMULA People worldwide who either have no access to clean water or must walk to retrieve it: The U.S. uses Per capita Because of washing and other manufactur- ing processes, 5 liters of water are required to produce 2 liters of Coke. more water water use in three days in the U.S. than the world uses oil (per day) in a year. Water Coca-Cola uses worldwide per day: 227 million 5 liters 1,460 gallons 1955 - out of - 10 gallons Size of the U.S. city that Coke's water use - гсоuld support: 1.5 million CITY OF LOST CHILDREN 4 liters BOTTLE BABIES 5,000 Price of a typical half-liter bottle of 1,920 gallons 1980 wat people a convenience store in the U.S.: 99 cents 3 liters Children who die from lack of water or from waterborne diseases (per day) 1,360 gallons 2005 FREE REFILLS 2 liters Number of times you can refill the half-liter bottle from the tap before using 99 cents' worth of tap water: 1,740 0- 250 CHILDREN Total liters for 1 liter 450 water blion gallons use in the U.S. 400 Пллл TЛЛЛЛT (per day) 1975 1980 2005 ToacaCola