Water

Bottled water uses 2000 times more energy than tap water! (click here)

Background:

SOS Related Activities:

Related Facts:

Water and Earth:

• Three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered with water, yet 98 percent is salt water and not fit for consumption.
• Less than one percent of all the water on Earth is freshwater available for human consumption.

Water and Humans:

• The human body is more than 60 percent water. Blood is 92 percent water, the brain and muscles are 75 percent water, and bones are about 22 percent water.
• A human can survive for a month or more without eating food, but only a week or so without drinking water.

Water Consumption:

• 3.9 trillion gallons of water are consumed in the United States per month. (AWWA Journal, June 2006)
• The average American uses 176 gallons of water per day compared to five gallons of water the average African family uses each day.

Water and Developing Countries:

• An estimated 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion people are without access to safe water. (WHO-UNICEF, 2004)
• 90 percent of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers and streams without any treatment. (UNDP,UNEP,World Bank, and the World Resources Institute, "World Resources 2000-2001," pg. 25-26)
• There are 1.6 million deaths per year attributed to dirty water and poor sanitation (World Watch; World Health Organization)
• In the past ten years, diarrhea related to unsanitary water has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since WWII. (WSSCC, 2004)
• At any one time, it is estimated that half the world's hospital beds are occupied with patients suffering from waterborne diseases. (WSCC, 2004)
• The average distance that women in developing countries walk to collect water per day is four miles and the average weight that women carry on their heads is approximately 44 pounds. (WSSCC, 2004)
• Over 40 billion work hours are lost each year in Africa to the need to fetch drinking water. (WHO, 2004)

Contact:
If you have questions about water or water-related issued and/or would like to join this SOS Subcommittee, the lead contact is Denise Rue-Pastin
(970) 946-9024.

Related Books:
If you are interested in any of the books referenced here, check with SOS—many are available from their lending library:
“Cadillac Desert” by Marc Reisner. Penguin Books: New York, NY. 1986.
“Running Dry”
“Tapped Out” by Dr. Paul Simon. Welcome Rain Publishers: New York, NY. 2001.
“Whose Water is it?” A collection of essaysNational Geographic Society: Washington, D.C. 2003.
"Deep Economy" by B. McKibben. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC 2007.
"Blue gold"by M. Barlow. New York: W. W. Norton & Company 2007.
"Liquid assets: The critical need to safeguard freshwater ecosystems" by S. Postel. New York: Worldwatch Institute. 2005.

Related Articles:
To obtain a copy of any of the following original articles contact SOS:

Related Films:
If you are interested in any of the films referenced here, check with SOS—many are available from their lending library:
Running Dry