"lack of access to water -- for drinking, hygiene and food security -- inflicts enormous hardships on more than a billion members of the human family. Water is likely to become a growing source of tension and fierce competition between nations, if present trends continue, but it can also be a catalyst for co-operation." United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan
It's Just a Drip -- does it really matter?
Two liters (1/2 gallon) of water is lost from a dripping faucet each hour.
There are 24 hours in a day so 48 liters (12 gallons of water is wasted each
day. There are seven days in a week so 336 liters (84 gallons) are wasted
in a week. YES! IT DOES MATTER!!!
If you use 1% of your body's water -- you will
feel thirsty.
If you use 5 % of your body's water -- you will have a fever.
If you use 10 % of your body's water -- you will not be able to move.
If you lose 12% of your body's water -- you will die.
Most people can exist for over a month without food, but les than a week without water.
HOW MUCH WATER DOES THE AVERAGE PERSON USE?
Although our bodies use water in the same ways, people in different parts of the world use vastly different amounts of water in their daily lives.
A Mosal person in Kenya will use 3 gallons of
water per day.
An average person in India uses 14 gallons per day.
An average person in Japan uses 77 gallons of water per day.
An average Canadian uses 86 gallons of water per day.
An average person in Switzerland uses 107 gallons per day.
An average American uses 132 gallons per day?
What do you think about this? What can
you do about this?
HOW TO SPEND WATER MONEY MORE WISELY?
CHOICE ONE:
A 1-liter bottle of water with a pretty picture of a
mountain on the label can cost $1 or more in a supermarket. One liter of
water from a tap can cost consumers as little as one-tenth of a cent. The
bottled water industry, by some estimates, does as much as $10 billion worth of
business.
CHOICE TWO:
Spend $10 billion dollars to bring safe water to everyone. "No single
measure would do more to reduce disease and save lives in the developing world
than bringing safe water and adequate sanitation to all." Millennium
Report
Facts from UN MATERIALS