Every Drop Counts: The Devastating Effects of The Global Water Crisis

What you should know and how you can make a change.

What is Water Scarcity and Migration?

A constant drip of water can destroy the hardest rock. Similarly, constant ignorance of wasting water can potentially wipe out humanity. Water scarcity is not only destroying our mother nature but uprooting communities.

Water use has been growing worldwide at more than twice the proportion of population increase in the last century. This increases the areas where the limit is being reached that water can sustainably be delivered, especially in dry regions.

This is making people anxious. A December 2020 article from the Financial Post highlights this fact in telling about how water has now joined other commodities like oil and gold being traded on Wall Street.

Nearly two billion people live in areas that have water shortages or water scarcity. This is the result of climate change, drought, pollution and population growth; two-thirds of the world could be joining them in another four years.

We need to address this globally on both an industrial/corporate and personal level as this affects us all.

How Much Usable Water is There?

According to the Bureau of Reclamation:

Water covers about 71% of the earth's surface.
326 million cubic miles of water on the planet
97% of the earth's water is found in the oceans (too salty for drinking, growing crops, and most industrial uses except cooling).
320 million cubic miles of water in the oceans
3% of the earth's water is fresh.
2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly polluted, or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.
0.5% of the earth's water is available fresh water

If you looked at this information as a pie chart, it would resemble something like this:

How Much Water Do We Use?

Water usage varies greatly by location. For example, the United States uses the most water per day at about 156 gallons of water per day per person according to the CDC, followed by 77 gallons per person per day in France, 38 gallons per person per day in India and, only 3 gallons of water per day per person in Mali, as illustrated by their graphic:

Within the US the water use percentage breakdown is:

8% is home/domestic use.
33% is used for farming.
59% is industrial use.
More than 600 gallons per person per day is redirected for livestock and farm irrigation from natural sources.
Over half the people in the U.S. water source is groundwater

Water Scarcity - What is it?

Water scarcity means there is not enough fresh water to meet the demands of people and the environment in an area. Safe drinking water needs to be a worldwide priority. And, as the UN reminds us, access to safe drinking water is a human right. Without access to clean water, people are vulnerable to unnecessary disease and health complications.

Water scarcity has a significant social impact. Women are disproportionately affected by lack of plentiful fresh water. Women are the ones responsible for finding water for their families’ survival-for cooking, drinking, hygiene, and cleaning. To accomplish this, they may need to walk far from home or stand in line for hours. Or, they may need to pay outrageous amounts of money to secure water. In all these endeavors, they face the unimaginable choice either to risk death by water born-illness from potentially unclean or contaminated water, the possibility of physical harm, or no water at all.

Per water.org “women around the world will spend a collective 200 million hours collecting water”. Additionally, children, particularly girls, share the burden of finding water with their mothers, are heavily impacted. Searching for water takes time away from school. And the lack of available water and thus poor sanitation keeps kids, especially girls, from being able to attend school.

According to the UN, water scarcity already affects every continent. As stated, in the last century, water use has grown globally at more than two times the rate of population growth. A growing number of areas are approaching the limit where water can be sustainably delivered, especially in arid regions.

Water Migration

People are reacting to this stress and moving. Per the IOM (International Organization for Migration) Environmental Migration Portal, water insecurity has long been identified as one of the triggers of migration because it threatens lives and livelihoods.

Poor people are the most exposed in the face of water scarcity as they are unable to replace water with another resource to preserve their farming activities and wellbeing.

Water scarcity can cause temporary or permanent movement depending on the length and severity of water stress as well as the abilities of the affected to cope.

The majority of people moving because of water insecurity try to travel the shortest distance possible and find water resources close to home. Water-related migration tends to be more regional since those who can’t access water locally usually lack the means to move beyond their region.

Climate change has been recognized as a driver of migration. Global climate change will be revealed through local changes in the water cycle and have uneven impacts worldwide. As the fresh water supply is re-shaped by climate change, it will have a domino effect on food production and well-being; especially communities whose income is very sensitive to local rainfall.

Water-connected migration has been in the limelight with climate change predictions suggesting that people might have to move because of the changes in the water cycle and rising global temperatures.

In many parts of the world, climate change is expected to dramatically influence local water availability, leading to more intense water stress and disasters connected to it like drought.

Estimates of people who may be forced to migrate or experience water stress, range between 24 million and 1.8 billion.

Populations relying on rainfall for water are at high risk and some more at risk than others. Smallholder rural farmers that live on less than US$1.90/day are at greater risk than others. These individuals rely on rain-fed agriculture and are the most exposed to the issues surrounding climate change since water is key to their survival and well-being.

We need to stop taking clean water for granted and treat it like the valuable resource it is.

What Can We do Individually?

The Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University puts it in perspective. Everything requires water, from the food we eat, the energy we use, everything we buy and/or consume. The water “footprint” in the U.S.– the amount of water it takes to produce our energy, food, clothing, etc. – is about 2,000 gallons of water each day. 95 percent of the water we use is consumed without us seeing it. Buying recycled goods, carpooling, and eating locally grown produce can help us all to reduce our water footprint.

Here are some other ways you can reduce your water footprint:

Turn off the faucet while you brushing your teeth or shaving. The average faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute-water savings: four to eight gallons.
Use low-flow faucets. Low-flow faucets can save hundreds of gallons of water per year. You can add an attachment called an aerator (AKA faucet or tap aerator) for under $10 to your faucet at home. Water saved about 700 gallons of water per year.
Shower instead of taking a bath. A bath can use up to 70 gallons of water; a 10-minute shower, under a low-flow showerhead, about 20 gallons. Water saved-about 50 gallons.

Install a low-flow showerhead. A low-flow showerhead can save up to 10 gallons of water per 10 minute shower, compared to the average showerhead. These are available in home improvement stores and are easy to install. If you use a WaterSense label model, the EPA estimates the average household water savings to be 2,900 gallons and more than $70 in energy and water costs per year.
Use less water per flush. You might be using almost 20 gallons of water a day=7,300 gallons a year, by flushing depending on the age of your toilet. A simple hack if you have a standard toilet is to fill a plastic bottle with sand or rocks and put it into the tank. The bottle occupies space and tricks your toilet into filling up with less water.
Repairing household leaks will save money and water. Water saved, up to 200 gallons of water per day.
Plug the sink if you hand wash dishes. Use a basin so you are not to maximize your useful water use.
If you use a dishwasher, a newer, Energy Star-rated one is your best option. Make sure it is fully loaded. Per the Natural Resources Defense Council, dishwashers that are Energy Star certified use as little as three gallons of water per load. Dishwashers made after 2013 are mandated to use no more than five gallons of water per load. Dishwashers made prior to 1994 can use 10 gallons or more of water per load.
Scrape your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. You can potentially save over 6,000 gallons of water per year.
Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the fridge so as to not run the faucet until water is cool enough to drink.
Instead of using your garbage disposal, compost. You save water and make a useful product for your garden.
Wash full loads of laundry only, and use cold water. This will save energy and money.
If you must water your yard, be aware of the best times to water and how much water your plants need. Use rain barrel water on non-edible plants to conserve water. Water first thing in the morning to prevent water from evaporating. Use a system controller labeled WaterSense if you have an irrigation system.
Wash your car with a bucket of water. Re-use the water or go to a car wash that recycles water.
Recycle. Recycling all of your plastic saves up to 12 gallons of water per day; a pound of paper, (less than the weight of an average newspaper), saves about 3.5 gallons of water. Purchasing recycled paper products saves water as well- it takes about 6 gallons of water to produce a dollar worth of paper.
Consider “virtual” water use when food shopping. We consume over 1,000 gallons of “virtual” water that goes into producing our food. About 70-95% of peoples’ water consumption is from food production. What we eat has a major impact on our water use. Meat, dairy, and nuts require a lot more water to produce in general, and “factory” raised livestock requires many times more water than pasture-raised.
Eat a more plant-based diet. The average salad requires 60 gallons of water to produce, while a hamburger requires 660 gallons. A pint of milk needs about 113 gallons to produce. You can also reduce your water footprint by choosing grass-fed, instead of grain-fed, as it can take a lot of water to grow corn and other feed crops.

Buy local. The transportation costs of your food and other items can be very high, buy from local businesses when you can.
Buy less new clothing. A t-shirt and jeans take over 2,500 gallons of water to make.
Lower your transportation footprint. A gallon of gas takes nearly 13 gallons of water to make. Combine your errands, carpool or take public transportation to reduce both your water and energy use.
Keep your electronics longer. The water needed to make your laptop could wash about 70 loads of laundry in a standard machine.
If available, sign up to use alternative energy, or, install renewable energy technology at in your home. The water footprint of your daily electricity use is based on state averages. If you use alternative energies such as solar or wind, your footprint could be less.
Travel less on airplanes. As beneficial travel can be, it comes at a cost to the environment. Flying from LA to San Francisco, for example, is about 700 miles round-trip and can cost you more than 9,000 gallons of water. That is enough for nearly 2,000 average dishwasher loads. A cross-country trip via air flight (about 6,000 miles) could be worth more than 1,700 standard toilet flushes.

What Else Can Help?

Industrial farming is a major water user and polluter. According to worldbank.org, about 70% of fresh water is used for agriculture; that is three times more than 50 years ago, per Global Agriculture. Most of us don’t realize the water that it takes to for the food on our plates to get there; and I bet once you do, you will be surprised to find, for example:

By 2050, the global water demand of water for agriculture is estimated to increase by another 19% because of irrigational needs.

On top of the existing 70%, to call that significant is an understatement.

But, there are other options that help mitigate that impact, such as rainfed agriculture. Not only does this help lessen water scarcity, if done using the most up-to-date methods, “the yield per dollar of in-field expenditure is six times larger for improved rainfed agriculture compared to commercial irrigation.” Abrams, L., (2018), Unlocking the potential of enhanced rainfed agriculture. Report no. 39. SIWI, Stockholm.

Rain-fed agriculture decreases the stress on the environment and thus decreases the need for water migration. It also can contribute to producing a higher per dollar yield, strengthening the economic health of farmers and communities.

At Gallant International, our organic cotton is grown on rain-fed farms in India, which helps to reduce pressure on local water sources. This is critical in protecting precious water resources for communities that often suffer because of industrial exploitation. And, compared to conventional cotton, organic cotton farming uses about 91% less water.

We are committed to creating ethically and sustainably made products with respect to the planet and its people while serving our customer’s need. And it is our pleasure to help other companies and brands on their ethical and sustainable journeys. Our products include custom cosmetic bags, bulk drawstring muslin bags, backpacks for school, and luxurious organic cotton throws and blankets

Learn more about our values and commitments HERE.