To celebrate World Water Day, Canada’s Kevin. Kevin Freedam only used 25 liters of water on the 22nd, unlike the average North American who uses 330 liters of water in one day. He also asked 31 people to participate in his water-saving campaign, which means that during the entire month of March this year, only 25 liters of water can be used per day for cooking, drinking, cleaning and maintaining personal hygiene.
Friedman said: "People in Canada and the United States don't know how much water they use every day and how much water they waste." "Although some people don't use much water, it is still difficult to use only 25 liters of water a day. "You can't stop taking a shower or using the dishwasher," he said. "I hope the public can understand that water is a limited resource."
Nearly 1 billion people do not have access to safe and clean water. According to recent research, because water demand will exceed sustainable water supplies by 40 percent, the number of people lacking water resources is likely to grow exponentially within a single generation of the population. Abundant water resources are long gone. We are using more water than can be used sustainably, drawing on non-renewable water resources that have been stored in underground aquifers for thousands of years.
"Water can't be made, it can only be managed and used." Canada Water Network Manager, Margaret. Kately. said Carlson, who is also a world-renowned expert on water issues and a former senior official at the United Nations and the Canadian government.
"In many countries and regions, water scarcity is a fundamental problem they must face in their development," Carlson said. "Lack of access to water will lead to hunger, disease, political unrest, and even armed conflict."
"Governments only play the role of delivering water resources to the public and industrial production, and they must change to another role, sustainably managing water resources for the public and the natural environment."
"Policymakers do not regard water as a precious resource, thus causing a waste of water resources. For example, leaky water conservancy public buildings lose 20 to 50 percent of the water they are supposed to transport. Even in the water-poor Southern Hemisphere The state does not prioritize water because only women or poor people have access to water, and they cannot represent their government. Instead, limited state funds are spent on things like the military or the poor. on other priorities," she said.
"It's very frustrating," she said. "We can live without oil, but we can't survive without water."
On March 22, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on governments to invest in improving water and sanitation issues for the poor, especially in urban areas. The number of people with water problems has increased by 20 percent in the past decade. .
"This is a crisis of governance that demonstrates policy failure and mismanagement, not just a lack of resources," Ban Ki-moon said.
According to a research report led by the United States - "Charting Our Water Future" (Charting Our Water Future), as the world's population and economy develop, the problem of water scarcity becomes more difficult. After 2030, Global water demand will increase by 40 percent compared to today's available and environmentally sustainable supply, according to the study by McKinsey and Company.
The report shows: "About one-third of the world's population is concentrated in developing countries. They live in basin areas, where the water shortage is more than half that of other regions."
Research points out that today's agricultural water consumption accounts for nearly 71% of the world's water consumption, and the problem of water scarcity is closely related to food supply. Inefficient and inappropriate irrigation water accounts for the majority of agricultural water consumption. Dry crops such as corn grown in Spain or other arid regions require large amounts of water to irrigate their crops. Even low-income crops such as sugar cane are grown using irrigation in some places, a phenomenon that Carlson found incredible.
"Weak policies, inappropriate subsidies, such as those for so-called biofuel crops, as well as trade agreements and inappropriate growing practices are all contributing to the misuse of water resources for food production around the world," she said. The main reason.”
Domestic water consumption only accounts for 8% of the total water consumption. Industrial water is another major part of all water consumption. All products contain a certain amount of water, and "substantial water" is usually used to describe the amount of water used in making things.
Cleantech Group Chairman, Nicholas. Parker said: "For example, a desktop computer requires 1.5 tons of water, a piece of denim pants requires up to 6 tons of water; 1 kilogram of wheat requires 1 ton of water...and so on."
The "actual water" used in global trade every year has exceeded 800 billion tons, which is equivalent to the water of 10 Nile rivers.
"People often don't understand how much water is actually used in the production and purchase of everything from T-shirts to wine," Parker said.
"Everyone can be a manager of water resources." Friedman said that he gained a lot of experience from the one-month water saving activity of 25 liters a day, which enabled him to save water every day throughout the year. water.
"Everyone in North America can use 25 liters less of water every day, and I hope people can make an agreement to save water together," Parker said.
─Data sources: Yahoo, IPS, Environmental Information Center
