Summarize carried an article in the Corriere della Sera, the values for the water we consume daily, not just what we drink but also those used to make products that we normally use.

Every time we drink a glass of wine consumed 120 liters of water. If you eat an egg, 135 liter. To wear a cotton T-shirt we used 2 000. And if we order a burger for lunch from 150 grams, we know that it is "side" 2,400 liters. Possible? The answer may be intuitive. Just think of how much water was used to irrigate the vines, to grow a chicken to grow cotton and to feed and quench a beef slaughtered at the age of 3 years.

Water 'virtual'

It is the new scientific perspective presented by the WWF during the World Water Week which ended a few days ago in Stockholm. Objective: to report the use of the water consumption of people. Experts speak of "virtual water", that hidden in food, clothes and services. Every Italian uses on average 215 liters of water to the actual day, for drinking and bathing, but the consumption is 30 times higher if we include the virtual water used to produce what we eat and wear. Are more than 6,500 liters each, every day. The highest in the world after the United States. And only 30 percent of that water comes from Italian resources. The majority (70 percent) comes from abroad, built-in products traveling on the routes of international trade. Our country is the fifth largest importer of water on the planet.

Water 'transport'

Take the beef. An average cow lives three years before they are slaughtered to obtain about 200 pounds of flesh. In those three years but the animal has consumed 1,300 pounds of wheat, corn and soybeans, plus 7,200 pounds of fiber, pastures and hay. It will have 24 cubic meters of drinking water. And 7 more cubic meters will be used for hygiene and livestock services. All in all, a pound of beef are "hidden" 15,500 liters of water. We then suggested that the animal is bred in Argentina and then sold in the Italian butchers. All the water that those steaks bring with them across the ocean is virtually imported. 'Many products we consume every day, said Michele Candotti, CEO of WWF Italy - come from areas of the world where water resources are already in crisis. " The only countries that import more water in Italy are Brazil, Mexico, Japan and China. Carriers transport more important agricultural products, particularly rice, wheat and maize.

The 'blue gold'

Scientists chose the word 'footprint' of a country to determine the volume of water needed to produce goods and services consumed by the inhabitants. Depends on four key factors: quantity and type of consumption, climate, agricultural techniques. To give just one example: a vegetarian diet involves a consumption of 2,000 liters of virtual water every day, but if we eat meat you can get to 5000 liters per day. According to the research Water Footprints of Nations (2007), every Italian consumes 2,332 cubic meters of water per year (equivalent to 2 million and 332 thousand liters). Spain and Greece on our level. In front there are only the United States (2,483 cubic feet). The world average is 1,243, while in most poor countries consumption falls below one thousand cubic meters. 'The oil is transported directly to the ships reflects Silvana Galassi, Professor of Ecology at the University of Milan -. Water is incorporated into grain or other products. But there is no doubt that we are moving resources to other areas. " A paradoxical case is the import of fruit from Spain, a country which last year was forced to buy water from France because of the scarcity of their basins. Produce an orange in the Iberian Peninsula "costs" 50 liters of water. "In developed countries there is more arable land - continues Silvana Galassi, then use the soil and water from other places. But the planet is a single system, must be considered as a whole. We have already exceeded the level of sustainability. "

The Emergency Italian

Summer 2003, one of the warmer seasons in the last two centuries. Italy discovers in a few weeks for fear water shortages can also affect one of the richest reservoirs of the planet, the Po valley. Remember Professor of Ecology: "We have come to conflicting uses, such as between agriculture and hydropower, we thought existed only in countries with very little water. In future climate change will tend to aggravate these events. And unfortunately we are used to move only in an emergency, never try to prevent the possible crisis and govern. " Northern Italy is rich in water of high quality, which was heavily polluted in the past and continues to be used often without brakes today. The South and the islands have limited resources allocated to decline in coming years and increasingly high percentage of losses in the network of aqueducts. All this within a framework that describes the director of the WWF: "The market price does not reflect in any way the value of water and subsidies hamper the drive towards new technologies. It is key here: if the price does not reflect the importance and scarcity of good, nobody cares about excessive consumption or waste. "

Pollution

There is another reality that is neglected, although it is obvious to all. The Italian water could be drunk in most cases without treatment. But in the past we used the wrong soil and polluted the water, so we are today to support the enormous costs for purification. According to the environmentalist culture that lesson has not been assimilated. "He speaks rightly of CO2 and the greenhouse effect - summarizes the WWF - but the same sense of urgency we should have the water issue." The new research data are useful to reflect on our consumption: a tomato 'cost' 13 liters of water, a sheet of A4 paper 10 liters, a slice of bread 40, a pair of leather shoes and even 8000. But the pollution causes the production of those goods? Quantify is the new frontier for researchers. But ensure that from now: import water into products means consumers in Europe and leave the countries of origin environmental impact.

Lawless

WWF lists a series of interventions to reduce our "footprint" on the planet. First, work on water productivity for agriculture. "Without blaming farmers-know-Candotti warns that improved technology for irrigation and water harvesting in the fields is a core to contain the use and waste." A widespread culture of good nutrition can affect an equally massive, such as reducing consumption of meat. In addition to the "sins" of producers and consumers, Italy pays a serious backwardness in terms of laws. The European Community Directive on water dates back to 2000, has been implemented, but not yet implemented. There is no such legislation to regulate demand, supply and management. WWF concludes: "If efforts to ask who produces and who consumes, we expect that there is also a kind of" constitution "that protects water as a public good."

From "Corriere della sera"