The theme for World Water Day 2023 is “Accelerating Change”. This day has been celebrated annually since 1992 as a reminder of the importance of water, which is the basis of all life. This year’s focus is on emphasizing the significance of national and international cooperation in achieving the goal of providing clean water and sanitation for all by 2030. Germany has been implementing measures to achieve this goal for some time.
An infographic from Statista and MIT Technology Review shows how much drinking water is used to produce common foods. On average, around 5605 liters of drinking water are required to produce one kilogram of cheese. This includes the water that a dairy cow consumes until milking. Nuts are also very thirsty foods, requiring around 10,000 gallons of water per pound. One kilogram of beef requires approximately 2714 liters of drinking water to reach the consumer.
Apart from the food industry, many other sectors require an adequate water supply to operate. Companies in Germany, excluding public water supply, used about 15.3 billion cubic meters of fresh water in 2019. Nearly 85 percent of this water was used to cool machines, processes, goods, and other things. Only around 1.4 percent of the fresh water used eventually became a part of the finished products. After industry, private households are the largest consumers of fresh water in Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office, every citizen used around 127 liters of water per day in 2021. More than one-third of this water was used for bathing, showering, and personal hygiene. Flushing toilets was the second largest item at 27 percent, laundry accounted for around 12 percent, and washing dishes for approximately six percent. Although the water consumption of private households has remained stable in recent years, there is a lot of potential to save water here.
