Matters of Scale - All Wet
Amount of water embodied in (required to produce) a slice of bread (liters) 40
An apple 70
A hamburger 2,400

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Amount embodied in a glass of wine 1
A glass of beer 75
A cup of coffee 140
A glass of milk 200

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Amount embodied in a sheet of A4 paper (210 x 297 mm) 10
In a cotton shirt 2,700
In an Indian-made Tata Motors Nano automobile 62,500
In a U.S.-made Chevrolet Malibu 1,934,500

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Amount required to produce one kilowatthour of electricity 71

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Typical consumption from one 10-minute shower 95
From a year’s worth of daily 10-minute showers 34,675

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Daily human water consumption requirement (from food and beverages) 2.7-3.7
Yearly human water consumption requirement 986-1,351

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SOURCES: Embodied water in products: www.waterfootprint.org. In electricity: Worldwatch calculation based on data from U.S. Geological Survey and the Energy Information Administration. Shower consumption: Worldwatch estimate. Human direct consumption: U.S. Institute of Medicine.

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Published in World Watch Magazine, March/April 2008, Volume 21, No. 2