Do you know how much water you use on a daily basis? Have you heard of virtual water? Did you know that water is used to create nearly every product out there, including our food? Last Water Wednesday, we invited the Sustainable Ag and Food Systems Agent, Morgan Pinkerton, and the Florida-Friendly Landscaping Agent, Tina McIntyre, to talk about the virtual water concept and how it is used to measure our water use.
What is virtual water?
Virtual water is the total amount of water use to make a product. We sometimes will refer to this as the invisible water that we use. The average person uses around 1,800 gallons/day of virtual water. At this rate, our supply of clean freshwater is quickly depleting.
There are three main types of water that make up virtual water: blue, green and grey water.
- Blue water is what we normally think of as water. It is the water we drink, the water found in the aquifer below us, our lakes, rivers and streams, and the water we use in our homes.
- Green water is water that is stored in the soil or plants. This water comes down as rain and is taken up by plants where it is used to grow or produce fruits/flowers.
- Grey water is water that has become polluted in some way. It is no longer water that we can readily consume or use. For example, when you wash your clothes, the dirty, soapy water that is left after the wash is grey water. Reclaimed water that municipalities use to water lawns is a large-scale form of gray water because it is made from wastewater flushed from our toilets.
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