Editor’s foreword
May 11th 2009 Welcome to the 4th annual Water Efficient Solutions guide.There is debate about water becoming the new oil. Whereas in the 20th century wars have been fought over oil, in the future fresh water will be the key resource and there is precious little of it about.Only 2.5% of the world’s water is fresh and less than 1% of this is accessible. UK consumptions is about 150 litres per person per day.There is a need to reduce this figure and utilise rainwater better in the UK, but even here the problem spreads further afield.WWF has stated that “only 38% of the UK’s total water use comes from its own rivers, lakes and groundwater reserves. The rest is taken from water bodies in many countries across the world to irrigate and process food and fibre crops that people in Britain subsequently consume.” While the 150 litres a day is significant in itself, the total usuage per person is around 3400 litres per day when embedded water is taken into account.
Efficiency when allied with the use of free water will help business to reduce environmental impacts and costs.War over water may or may not be on the horizon but costs will certainly increase.When water is too scarce as it is in the UK (and not just the South East, the North West will soon become water stressed) there are always methods to solve the problem such as desalination. It is possible but very expensive and energy intensive. As Benjamin Franklin said "when the well is dry, we know the worth of water". Understanding the worth of water before its intrinsic value is forced upon us is essential.
Tim McManan-Smith – Editor More articles from Water Efficient Solutions Support: | 
