Challenge 20/20 Global water consumption

Global Water Consumption

Although it is true that if we take a world wide average of water use we will find that most of our water is expended on agriculture, this is not true for every country. In industrialized nations, industries consume more than half of the water available for human use. A good example of this is Belgium, where more than 80% of the water available is used in industry. Conversely, many developing countries found in various parts of the world use less than 5% of their withdrawals for industry.

In general, the percentage of water usage for industrial purposes varies from a country to another. However, the average water withdrawals’ consumption for industry in the world is 23%. We can conclude from this fact that most of the global water consumption is concentrated on either agriculture or industry. Domestic and household use, on the other hand, makes up only 8% of the world’s use of water.

Domestic water use includes all of the water that we use in our homes. For instance, the water that we use for drinking, food preparation, washing, cleaning, etc… Just 100 years ago, domestic water use was much less than now. As our lstandard of living improved, we started to increase our usage of water for household or domestic purposes. An example that would prove this assumption is a comparison between the United States and Senegal. In the US, where the life standard is high, each individual consumes 700 liters a day for domestic purposes. In Senegal, where the living standards are considerably low, each individual consumes 29 liters a day to meet household needs.

This is a stark reality of the existing water crisis in many countries. Moreover, it reflects the fact that water is scarce in parts of the world.