Clean water as a given
In our latitudes, it is almost taken
for granted: clean water
comes out of the tap whenever we want it. We need clean water for drinking, cooking, personal hygiene, cleaning and washing. For Germany, the figure is around
125 liters of drinking water per person per day.
If we look at the virtual water consumption, i.e. the water that is used, evaporated or polluted for the production of goods and services, each of us ends up with around 5,000 liters per day. By the time we get out of the shower in the morning, we have already used more water than people in developing countries have available to them for the whole day. According to the
World Health Organization (WHO) five liters of drinking water are enough to meet the most
basic needs for drinking, eating and basic hygiene
there. Most of us don't really have to worry about the
wastewater we produce
either. That's being taken care of by others - another given.