Not A Drop to Drink

NOT A OROP TO DRINK AMERI CA'S VERY REAL WATER CRISIS You've heard there's a water crisis. But, what does that mean? After all, experts can say all they want, but when water flows in seemingly limitless quantities out of the tap and gets trucked to cities in bottles by the ton, it sure doesn't seem like water is something we're in danger of losing anytime soon. Water quantity and quality should be a top issue for Americans. Below are the four major components of the issue, and how they're all connected. The average American uses CONSUMPTION The average U.S. household goes through 99 GALLONS AMERICA HAS A HUGE OF WATER PER DAY. 350 GALLONS APPETITE FOR WATER. OF WATER PER DAY. (and over 127,000 gallons annually). The world's poorest live on less than POWER, FARMING, AND THE PUBLIC ARE TOP CONSUMERS. 2.5 GALLONS AMERICAN WATER USE OF WATER PER DAY, 49% 32% 12% 4% 3% THERMOELECTRIC IRRIGATION AND PUBLIC AND INDUSTRIAL MINING AND POWER LIVESTOCK DOMESTIC SUPPLY AQUACULTURE AND THEN THERE'S THE "HIDDEN WATER" IN WHAT WE CONSUME AND ITEMS WE USE EVERY DAY. A 60-WATT BULB can use up to A pound of beef, from farm to plate, uses 5 GALLONS 1,800 GALLONS OF WATER OF WATER. for every hour it's left on. WE USE PLENTY OF WATER EVERY DAY, BUT WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO CONSERVE. Replacing grass lawns with native plants (especially in dry communities) can save over CONSER VATION 15,000 GALLONS THERE ARE SMALL THINGS WE CAN ALL DO: PER YEAR. Old toilets use 7 GALLONS per flush. New toilets can use as little as 1 GALLON. INSTALLING WATER-EFFICIENT FIXTURES CAN REDUCE A HOUSEHOLD'S DAILY WATER USE BY 35 PERCENT. AND BIG THINGS THAT INDUSTRIES CAN Do: Farms that change to overhead or drip irrigation, from traditional surface irrigation, could significantly improve agricultural water efficiency, while preventing runoff and food waste. AND EVEN IF WE HAVE ENOUGH WATER, WE HAVE TO KEEP IT CLEAN. QUALITY INDUSTRIAL FARMS CREATE THE MAJORITY OF WATER POLLUTION. 3 MILLION GALLONS CHEMICALS AND CONTAMINANTS ARE SEEPING INTO OUR WATER. OF MANURE SPILLED INTO Municipal water in NEW YORK'S BLACK RIVER 71 PERCENT in August 2005 from a ruptured tank on a dairy farm. OF U.S. CITIES CONTAINS HIGHER LEVELS OF THE CARCINOGENIC CHEMICAL HEXAVALENT-CHROMIUM than lawmakers recommend. 67 PERCENT of water near major poultry farms contain antibiotics. AND OUR AGING INFRASTRUCTURE IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM. INFRASTRUCTURE WHEN OUR PIPES GET OLD, THEY BREAK. 30% of the infrastructure that serves cities of 100,000 or more people is at least 40 years old. 700 WATER MAIN BREAKS IN THE U.S. EVERY DAY. 7 BILLION AND FIXING THEM COSTS MONEY. $1 TRILLION $300 BILLION GALLONS ARE LEAKED EVERY DAY. Estimated cost to upgrade Estimated cost to upgrade America's water infrastructure over the next 25 America's stormwater years, according to The American Water Works Association. pipes and wastewater treatment plants. BUT NOT FIXING THEM IS WORSE. When these utilities get old and fail, the stuff you flush down the toilet can get in your drinking water by nothing more than a heavy rain. In fact, the majority of waterborne illnesses in the U.S. can be traced back to heavy rain storms. DO SOMETHING AB OUT THIS. SIGN THE WATER BILL OF RIGHTS AT TAKEPART.COM/LASTCALL KNOW YOUR WATER SOURCES: NPR.ORG, DRINKTAP.ORG, WIRED.COM, PLANETSAVE.COM, USGS.GOV, Take Part IEEE.ORG, NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM, GRIST.ORG, MONOLAKE.ORG, EWG.ORG, SUSTAINABLETABLE.ORG, NYTIMES.COM, CNN.COM, EPA.GOov, NRDC.ORG INFOGRAPHIC DESIGN BY COLUMN FIVE OASIS #knowyourwater