A litre of soft drink costs 55 litres of water

Though statistics claim that each of us drink 2 to 4 litres of water every day, most of the water we consume is embedded in the food products we eat.

Convenor of the World Water Day, Institute of Engineers, Rajender Saraf, has etched out a theory of water footprints, which shows some alarming figures of water virtually consumed through the food products we consume.

Alarming figures

• 1 litre of soft drink uses 55 litres of water
• 1 kg of beef takes 15,000 litres of water
• 1 kg wheat uses 1,500 litres of water
• 1 pair of jeans takes up 1,900 litres of water
• 1 kg of tomatoes take up 180 litres of water
• 1 cotton T-shirt uses 2,700 litres of water

What is virtual consumption ?
Apart from direct consumption of water drinking, cooking and washing, water is indirectly used for producing things such as food, paper and cotton clothes. The entire process of manufacturing and production of these products involves consumption of water, which is known as the virtual consumption of water.

How water is virtually consumed?
In case of soft drink and beers, large quantity of water is required to wash the machinery and bottles. Water at the same time is wasted in processing these products. In case of tomatoes and sugar, a large quantity of water is consumed in cultivation. Besides, processing of crops requires a lot of water.