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The Management of Water and How It Can Save Our Future

John DeSouza

University of Arizona

Dr. Stephen Poe

ABE 170A1

April 26, 2016

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The Management of Water and How It Can Save Our Future

Water is the most essential component of human life. In addition to this, it is one of the

biggest things humans take for granted each and every day. These two factors together create a

very dangerous concoction. Fresh water is a limited resource, and it is even more limited in

certain parts of the world. In fact, one study by McKinsey stated that by 2030, demand for water

will outstrip supply by 40 percent, and that about half of the worlds population will live in

water-scarce areas (McKinsey, 2009, p. 3). Since the worlds population is continually growing,

the demand for the most vital substance on Earth shows no signs of slowing down. In order to

conserve water for future generations, we have to find ways that it is being wasted and properly

manage its usage.

No matter what happens, people will always need to use water. Whether its for drinking,

washing, or cleaning, water is used in enormous amounts every day. However, that only makes it

all the more important that people analyze the ways that they waste this precious resource and

eliminate them. You can see how the average individual utilized water in their everyday lives in

Figure 1 below.
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Figure 1. How Much Water Do We Use?: 1999. The pie graph reveals how civilians in

residential areas use water for different things (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014).

Upon looking at Figure 1, it can be seen that approximately 13.7% of water usage comes

from leaks. This could be easily remedied by periodically looking around the house to find leaks

and fix them. In addressing the other numbers in the figure; showering, clothes washing, toilet

usage, and faucet usage are all things which can be reduced or minimalized. Showering and

faucet usage could be shortened, toilet usage can be diminished by not using toilets as garbage

cans, and clothes washing can be managed in such a way that more clothes are washed at a time.

However, Figure 1 only shows the uses which occur indoors. Outdoors, irrigation is

roughly 30 percent of the household use (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014). This can be

even bigger than that if you live in a hotter area because water evaporates at a faster rate. It can

be an even greater amount when people dont know how to irrigate properly as well. If we can

teach people how to water their garden or lawn and save water at the same time, we may be able

to solve this problem. For example, storing rainwater for later use on your lawn helps to save the

faucet water you may have used for the task. With every person doing their share, these little

tasks can add up to a large amount of water preserved.

Even if the individual is held accountable for his or her own water usage, we must also

hold businesses accountable for theirs. Businesses use exponentially more water in order to

operate than the individual does. This is measured by something called the Business Water

Footprint. The Business Water Footprint is a measurement which consists of water used to

operate the business and water used in the supply chain of the business (Gerbens-Leenes &

Hoekstra, 2008, p. 9). For those without the business diction, the supply chain is the process that

the business goes through to create its good or service. According to a study done by the U.S.
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Geological Survey, about 4% of the United States total water usage was on account of Industry,

a lot of it concentrated in states where Industry is abundant like Indiana and Texas (U.S.

Geological Survey, 2010, p. 40). However, we have been moving in the right direction. That

same study conducted by the USGS noted that, for 2010, total industrial withdrawals were 12

percent less than in 2005 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010, p. 40). It should also be noted that

Industry only applies to the supply chain side of the Business Water Footprint.

Table 1. Overview of largest companies in food and drug stores as well as general merchandising

with a relatively large water footprint. Note. Retrieved from Business Water Footprint Report by

Gerbens-Leenes & Hoekstra (Gerbens-Leenes & Hoekstra, 2008, p.42).

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Now the next major step is to target individual businesses and make sure that they are

utilizing their water efficiently. As seen in Table 1 below, there are many big companies which

make millions in revenue, yet have some of the biggest Business Water Footprints. Since it

seems like the supply chain side of the BWF is starting to get better according to the USGS

study, in order to bring the operational BWF under control, companies must look within. They

should properly educate employees about conservation of water, fix any leaks in stores, and

more. With all the millions in profit they make a year (as seen in Table 1), it should not be too

much of a hassle to invest in proper research for reduction of the business water footprint.

Figure 2. Total Withdrawals: 2010. The amount of total freshwater withdrawals in the US by

State in gallons illustrated on a map (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010, p. 16).

One of the players which have the biggest say in what happens with water is the

government. For example, in Figure 2 above, you can see how different states withdraw different
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amounts of water. If the government has its say, it may be able to limit each States water

withdrawal by the amount of need it has. However, there has been a lot of talk of droughts in

certain states recently. Because of this issue, limiting some states water withdrawal amount may

prove controversial.

Figure 3. Total Withdrawals by Category: 2010. A bar chart of each States freshwater

withdrawals and what each State used them for (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010, p. 16).

In order to limit a states ability to withdraw water, one would have to break up the water

usage into categories. As seen in Figure 3 above, a great deal of the withdrawn water is used on

irrigation. You can also see that thermoelectric power is very heavy in certain areas. However, if

the government were to put sanctions on how much water can be used for each of these

categories, there would be some downsides as well. Less irrigation would mean less crops and

less thermoelectric power would mean less energy. In addition, even if we solve our problems

here, one study by McKinsey predicts that production of food crops in developing countries will

increase by 67% between 2000 and 2030 (McKinsey, 2009, p.4). This will create a greater
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worldwide need for irrigation and water. Enacting sanctions on how much water can be

withdrawn may help to quell the taxing effect on our fresh water reserves. But since water is a

basic human need, it should be available to all those who need it. Finding the balance between

these two is the question.

Water is essential to all life. If we can help get that thought out to everyone in the world,

perhaps we would all have a different mindset since that resource is limited and is getting

smaller. Education can be the biggest tool to solving problems. We can educate every nation

about the importance of conserving water and how to save water through different irrigation

techniques and ways of reducing everyday use of water. Water is a very important resource, and

theres only so much of it, so it is important that we manage it well.

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References

Environmental Protection Agency. (2014, December). WaterSense. Retrieved February 15, 2016,

from http://www3.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/tomorrow_beyond.html

Gerbens-Leenes, P. W., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2008, March). Business Water Footprint

Accounting: A Tool to Assess How Production of Goods and Services Impacts on

Freshwater Resources Worldwide. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from

http://doc.utwente.nl/59999/1/Gerbens08business.pdf

McKinsey & Company. (October 2009). The Global Corporate Water Footprint. Retrieved

February 15, 2016, from

http://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/dotcom/client_service/Sustainability/PDFs/

Report_Large_Water_Users.aspx

U.S. Geological Survey. (2010, November 5). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in

2010. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/pdf/circ1405.pdf