We often come across reports and awareness campaigns claiming that the domestic consumption of Water is very high and we need to adopt measures to make greater savings on this important natural resource, given that water is the most strategic asset on the planet and that may go into shortage if there is no conservation.
Although it is important that we, in our homes, try to avoid excessive water consumption, domestic use is not the main responsible for this high consumption. If we analyze in detail the activities that consume the most water at the world and also in Brazil, we will find that there are several socioeconomic activities that use water resources even more.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it is the agricultural activity the main responsible for the water use. According to the entity, 70% of all water consumed in the world is used for irrigation of crops, number that rises to 72% in the case of Brazil, which is a country with strong production in this sector of the economy.
After the agricultural sector, comes the industrial activity, which accounts for 22% of the world's water consumption. Only then comes domestic use, which accounts for about 8% of all water resource use. This scenario reveals that not only homes and businesses must save, but also the primary and secondary sectors of the economy, adopting measures to contain water use.
If we consider only the call virtual water of the world, that is, the amount of water used for economic production not counting direct consumption, the agriculture now holds 67% of water use, followed by animal farming, with 23%, and then by industry, with 10%. This means that water saving measures inevitably involve the adoption of measures in rural areas.
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To get an idea of this difference in consumption, let's consider some examples: to produce 1 kg of beef, 15,400 liters of water are used; a cotton shirt costs 2,500 liters; a ton of steel takes 300 thousand liters; and a car spends more than 400 thousand. In the agricultural field, soy is one of the champions, with 1,800 liters for each kilo produced – remembering that Brazil is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of this product.
Also according to FAO, agriculture is the sector of the economy that most needs the imposition of reduction measures of water consumption, as around 60% of all water used in irrigation would be lost by waste. Thus, the same studies show that a 10% reduction in this loss would be enough to supply twice the current world population, in terms of statistical average.
Therefore, some of the measures are the adoption of alternative forms of irrigation, such as the drip. In this process, instead of having waste generated by common irrigation, a system in which only a few drops are used to moisten the soil and ensure that the cultivated vegetable has enough for its support. If measures like this spread in rural areas in Brazil and around the world, millions of liters of water will no longer be wasted.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PENA, Rodolfo F. Alves. "Activities that consume the most water"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/atividades-que-mais-consomem-agua.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
