Question

er is also needed to grow or make just about everything you use—from cars to T-shirts. But there is relatively little of the type that’s useful to us on Earth. You might say, how is that possible? Most of Earth’s surface is covered with water. That’s true. Yet most of that is the salt water of oceans. The water we use for most daily activities is fresh water. Only about one percent of Earth’s water supply is fresh water that people can use for things like drinking or growing food.

The water each of us uses every day is not just what we drink or use directly. It is also the surprising amount of water consumed to make the products we use. For example, you probably own at least one cotton T-shirt, maybe a few. It doesn’t seem as though T-shirt manufacturing would be a big water user, but it is. It takes about 713 gallons (2,700 liters) of water to make each T-shirt—most of that for growing the cotton from which it is made.

Still, our biggest daily use of water is for the foods we eat and the beverages we drink. The total comes to more than 1,000 gallons (3,785 liters) per day for foods. The amount of water needed to produce certain foods can be surprising. If you drink a glass of orange juice or eat a slice of melon, it’s clear that the food is composed largely of water, and it took water to grow it. You also know that it takes a lot of water to grow a field of beans or strawberries. But take a look at the chart below. Consider foods like a hamburger, a piece of cheese, or even a bar of chocolate. How much water goes into producing those? More than you think.

A 2 column table with 17 rows. Column 1 is labeled Food with entries 1 pound chocolate (.45 kilograms), 1 pound beef (.45 kilograms), 1 gallon milk (3.8 liters), 1 pound lamb (.45 kilograms), 1 pound cheese (.45 kilograms), 1 pound pork (.45 kilograms), 1 pound chicken (.45 kilograms), 1 pound rice (.45 kilograms), 1 pound soybeans (.45 kilograms), 1 pound barley (.45 kilograms), 1 pound barley (.45 kilograms), 1 pound wheat (.45 kilograms), 1 pound potatoes (.45 kilograms), 1 pound corn (.45 kilograms), 1 egg (.45 kilograms), 1 apple (.45 kilograms), 1 orange (.45 kilograms), 1 slice bread (.45 kilograms). Column 2 is labeled Water Needed to Produce It with entries 3,170 gallons (12,000 liters), 1,799 gallons (6810 liters), 880 gallons (3,331 liters), 731 gallons (2,767 liters), 660 gallons (2,498 liters), 576 gallons (2,180 liters), 468 gallons (1,772 liters), 449 gallons (1,700 liters), 216 gallons (818 liters), 198 gallons (750 liters), 132 gallons (500 liters), 119 gallons (451 liters), 108 gallons (409 liters), 53 gallons (201 liters), 18 gallons (68 liters), 16 gallons (61 liters), 11 gallons (42 liters).

Which item in the comparison chart takes the least amount of water to produce? Which takes the greatest? How much water is that?

in a small paragraph

Answer 1

The chart shows that a single slice of bread takes the least water to produce—about 11 gallons (42 liters)—while a pound of chocolate requires the most, roughly 3,170 gallons (about 12,000 liters).