October 3, 2022
What is Virtual Water and Why Does it Matter?
If you’re like me, you know how many gallons of gas it takes to drive your vehicle to your favorite destinations. You may make decisions about your driving habits based on the consumption of fuel involved.
If you’re also like me, you’ve never given much thought to how many gallons of water are involved with the production of goods we use every day.
Well, that’s changing for me right now!
The concept “virtual water,” which was devised by British geographer and Stockholm Water Prize-winner John Anthony Allan (1937-2021), refers to the indirect or “hidden” water used in products, services and processes. This is the amount of water that has been consumed from the beginning to the end of a process.
Unlike direct water that is used in a specific time and at a specific location to produce a product or service, indirect or “virtual” water is more encompassing and reflects the actual amount of water utilized.
For example, the distilled water used by a microchip manufacturer during the manufacturing process can be referred to as direct water. All the water involved with making a microchip, including the water it takes to get the product to market, is considered virtual water.
Direct water is required to boil pasta. Virtual water refers to the total amount of water it takes to grow the wheat, produce fuel for wheat-harvesting machines, create electricity for the processing of the wheat into flour and pasta, prepare the past for shipping and get the pasta to your favorite grocery store.
Manufacturing everyday materials, such as paper, plastic, metal and fabric, takes a huge amount of water. According to Water Footprint Calculator (watercalculator.org), a website of the nonprofit GRACE Communications Foundation, it takes 2,866 gallons of water to make one pair of cotton jeans, 3,190 gallons of water to make one smart phone and anywhere from 13,737 to 21,926 gallons of water to make a car.
Through my writing, I want to promote awareness of what virtual water is all about so everyone can think about using water more carefully and wisely.
Our very survival is at stake!
October 2, 2022
My Venture Into Understanding How to Use Water Efficiently and Effectively
When the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) asked me to edit/copyedit their monthly 505 Outside newsletter in February 2020, I happily accepted this opportunity. The contributors, who are landscape professionals with no particular expertise in writing, welcomed appropriate changes to their words and phrases so their messages are communicated more clearly to the Bernalillo County homeowners who read 505 Outside.
More than two years later, I continue to edit/copyedit this informative newsletter. In the process, I have learned a great deal about so many aspects of efficiently watering landscapes. Essentially, it’s all about planting the right plants in the right places in the landscape using the right tools. That’s a lot to learn! There are so many terrific tools and gadgets on the marketplace — everything from high-efficiency nozzles and drip systems to water monitoring devices that can be controlled from a smart phone — that are available to the homeowner. While some of them are pricey, others are quite affordable.
I feel so fortunate that I also had the opportunity to edit/copyedit ABCWUA’s Irrigation Efficiency Guide, a 64-page document containing information on how to create beautiful landscapes with less water. How important is this document? In the world of climate change, when dry areas are becoming drier and fresh water is at a premium, learning how to use less water in our daily lives is absolutely essential. It isn’t a practice restricted to New Mexico and the desert Southwest. Many regions of the world are facing fresh water shortages and need to learn how to use water lovingly and carefully because our very survival is at stake!