Walter de Bruyn: Everything we eat or use requires water
OK, I am convinced to produce 1 almond kernel takes 1 gallon of water. With that knowledge the question that begs to be asked is how much water is used to produce something else?
A quick internet search shows the following: production of 1 microchip, 8.5 gallons of water; printing one Sunday newspaper, 80 gallons of water; making one latte, 53 gallons of water (including the sugar); manufacturing one car 39,090 gallons of water. But let’s also acknowledge the estimated 228 billion (yes, billion) gallons of water lost each year to leaking water pipes in our municipalities. Or consider that 1 inch of rainfall in Los Angeles creates 3.8 billion gallons of runoff that goes un-captured for future use.
Should the question be: Are our water resources being managed correctly by the Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board?
Walter C. de Bruyn, Modesto
This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Walter de Bruyn: Everything we eat or use requires water."