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Day 6 of our No Impact Experiment is about water consumption & having had a go at the Water Footprint Calculator this is how we score:
Food = 139
Domestic = 46
Industrial =73
Total = 259 Cubic Metres Per Person Per Year!
We have no idea if this is good or bad, as there are no guidelines on the website...
All I can say is that we are very careful with water. When we first moved to Cornwall - we lived on a smallholding which had it's own well water pumped into the house. During dry periods the well would get really low & so we got used to being incredibly frugal & that behaviour has stayed with us.
We never leave taps running or over fill the kettle, we use a bowl to wash our dishes, our washing machine has a AAA rating - so is both energy & water efficient. We don't use our bath (it usually gets filled with vegetable plants in the summer) & always take quick showers (not only to save water, but because when we have spent too long - the water runs cold)!
For years we have drank bottled mineral water, as we've always found mains water in this country to be pretty awful. We do have a water filter, but compared to mineral water & the well water we have drunk in the past - it's just like drinking from a swimming pool with a heap of scrap metal thrown in! This week, we have cut out the bottled & are persevering with tap water. Such a shame that the quality is poor, so naturally we have reduced the amount we drink as we are not enjoying it - if only we had our own well or spring!!!
Anyway, the rain is torrential outside, the wind is blowing & the sea water is in abundance...
Kay :0)
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However, I was astounded to read Ann's Harvest Moon blog. She calculated her water usage at 1206 and says she was quite pleased with that because a study showed the average U.S. water footprint as 2,803 cubic meters. This same study shows the average UK per capita usage as 1245 cubic metres per annum, very close to the global average.
Are we exceptionally frugal with our use of water, or have we miscalculated?
Harvest Moon blog http://harvestmoonbyhand.blogspot.com/2011/01/no-impact-week-experiment-day-6-water.html
Water study http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/NationalStatistics (data set 1)
Have done the calculations again & even being over the top - I still just get 350!
Have found this calculator from the Energy Saving Trust:
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/watercalculator/flashcalculator
This one says we use 180,000 litres a year - there's 5 of us, so it works out at 36,000 litres per person per year, but converted to cubic metres - it's: 36 a year!
If you convert our original calculations then I'm using 715 litres a day (thats 259 cubic metres a year) & in Yemen the average person uses 1,800 litres a day - how can that be?
I don't think we've miscalculated - let's just enjoy being smug! :)