Looking at all the flood warnings on the news, you could be forgiven for thinking that we are awash in water.
Recent news about spring floods in landlocked Saskatchewan and Manitoba and in the U.S. may suggest there’s no problem. And indeed, Canadian rivers, from the mighty Mackenzie in the North to Niagara River cascading into Lake Ontario, give us about 7 percent of the world’s renewable water supply. At the same time Canada is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
About 22% of the fresh water used globally is for industry. Photo: iStockphoto
If that’s your only frame of reference, you could be all wet; water is scarce and becoming more so. It’s a precious resource, the hub of nature. From the glass that quenches our thirst to the night-time bath we find so relaxing to the cooling towers of industrial plants and the aquifers that sustain food production: United Nations figures show 70 percent of the freshwater globally is used in irrigation, followed by 22 percent for industry and 8 percent for domestic use. And in the last century, the use of fresh water has grown at a rate twice as fast as the global population.
All the more reason to look closely at where every drop goes. Some areas of Canada, including parts of interior British Columbia and the southern Prairies, already have arid or semi-arid climates, as about 60 percent of fresh water in Canada drains to the North, while 85 percent of the population lives in the south, within 300 kilometres of the U.S. border.
The truth is that we can’t afford to squander water resources. A lot of attention is focused on the amount of water it takes to produce our resources such as oil and make the things we take for granted.
Starting with oil sands, here are the numbers:
- On average, it currently takes half a barrel of fresh water for every barrel of crude produced from the oil sands using in-situ technology (1 barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons).
- Mining the oil sands still requires between 2 and 4 barrels of fresh water for every barrel of crude produced. We’re working hard to improve that ratio by being more efficient, recycling and using new technologies.
Here’s some interesting water use stats from other industries - check this blog out; it’s guaranteed to make waves:.
- According to treehugger.com it takes a whopping 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to make one pair of blue jeans, the most popular garment in the western world.
- It also takes more than 39,000 gallons of water to produce a single car and 53 gallons for your morning latte. Gulp!
- 1,500 gallons for a barrel of beer. Double gulp.
We think statistics like these teach us three things:
- First, most of us haven’t the first clue how much fresh water it takes to make the things we take for granted in our every-day life.
- Second, they are a real conversation starter at the water cooler.
- And third, they herald the day when water may well replace gold as the wealth standard. Within the industry, they make us think about our own efforts to help conserve water and remind us of the goals we have set for ourselves.
Thinking about water - from its input as an energy source to the end-use products and services we all consume - helps drive our behaviours and hopefully makes us all more responsible in how we use this precious resource. And that’s a “glass half-full” future we all want to see.
