Water

Water makes up 60 percent of our body, 70 percent of our brain and 80 percent of our blood. We humans are essentially made of water. While we can go about a month without food, our body cannot survive a week without water. The same water that existed on Earth billions of years ago still exists today. It covers most of the planet, but just 30 percent is fresh water and most of that is ice, albeit melting. Less than 1 percent of all fresh water is readily accessible for human use. In other words, less than 0.0007 percent of all the water on Earth is available for human consumption.

What is more depressing is that most people are not aware that a quarter of all the clean water that enters their home is used to flush toilets. One toilet flush uses three gallons of water. A single load of laundry uses 40 gallons, a 10-minute shower 50 gallons, brushing teeth with the water running four gallons, and brushing teeth with the tap off a quarter of a gallon.

A water crisis is looming. In the 20th century the world’s population tripled. The use of water grew six times. By the middle of the 21st century there will be an additional 3 billion people. A number that would have been more than triple that had China not implemented a “one child” policy. Most will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages.

What does that mean for water use? Los Angeles County can support about 1 million people with its own water. Remember the movie “Chinatown?” L.A. ain’t seen the half-of-it yet, because by 2020 its population is expected to reach 22 million. El Paso and San Antonio in Texas could run out of water sometime in 2019-2029. Central Florida could run out of water by 2014.

Millions of people in the world live on less than three gallons of water a day. The average American uses about 160 gallons a day. Some sobering statistics to keep in mind:

- 25 million refugees were displaced by contaminated rivers in 2008. That is more than were forced to flee from war zones in the same year;

- One in three people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water;

- According to the U.N., a child dies from a water-related disease every 15 seconds;

- We are going to run out of water before we run out of oil;

- Due to overpumping, the groundwater in several countries is almost gone;

- Depleted aquifers lead to cutbacks in grain harvests which lead to more food shortages and higher prices;

- China is already developing large grain deficits as a result, as are India, Pakistan and Egypt;

- Our water problem is fast becoming a hunger problem.

I ponder these mind-boggling numbers and statistics every time I water my plants or go for a swim in the nearby bay, which is quite often in the hot and humid summer months.