Dr.Mohammed Saleh Al.Ansari

Virtual Water

August 31, 2012

Virtual Water To produce 1 kilogram of wheat about 1000 liters of water are needed to water the trees, but for beef about 15-16 times as much is required. The majority of the water that we consume is embedded in our food and this water either used from drinking or consume it from aggricultue. Below there is a listing of the various average amounts of virtual water in food. Now lets have a close look at some information that I got about the availability of water in the mass of produced goods. Example here as follows: the production of 1 kg wheat uses 1,400 Liters of water, and, the production of 1 kg broken rice needs 3,800 Liters of water and some studies goes to 4500 liters , &, the production of 1 kg eggs needs 3,300 Liters of water , and, the production of 1 kg beef needs 16,500 Liters of water , and, the production of 1 cotton shirt of 300 gram needs 2,500 Liters of water. Further more; the Household Product would made the  Jeans at weight of(1000g) there is 10,850 liters of embedded water and some research work gone to 12,500 liter and  Diaper at wieght (75g) there is 920 liters of embedded water while Bed Sheet with weight equavelent to (900g) there is 9,750 Liters of embedded water

Virtual water trade through imports or/and exports processes and  defines as when goods and services are exchanged between countries or regions or continents, so is virtual water. When a country imports one tonne of wheat instead of producing it domestically, it is saving about 1,300 cubic meters of real indigenous water where sometimes is not applicable within the land of the countries specially in arid countries where water is scarce. So if this country is water-scarce, the water that is ‘saved’ can be used towards other requirements and could be saved. If the exporting country is water-scarce, however, it has exported 1,300 cubic meters of virtual water since the real water used to cultivate the wheat will no longer be obtainable for other purposes and this would contribute to loss of equilibrium balance.

Virtual Waterless Technology that takes in consideration the awareness, resource limitations, nonexistence of knowledge base, insufficient technologies & practices and inappropriate resource pricing have led the industries in the third world to chaotic state of environment over the past century or so.  Raw resources are finishing with mountains of waste piling up to levels that could not be understood by the nature’s capacity to contain. Toxic fumes ejected out by factories are choking mankind to depression and effluents rendering water resources unfit for humans. The Water resources could with no trouble is singled out as vulnerable, given their probable for uptake, dispersal and mobility of contaminants. Entry of pollutants in the water system affects all downstream situations through its irrevocable impact that continues expanding strength along the line of flow. No amount of remedial action could ensure restoration and the only way to preserve the water quality and availability was to prevent over- exploitation and contamination of this ‘finite’ and ‘non renewable’ resource. Whereas safeguarding of qualitative features of freshwater resources necessitates a ‘zero emission’ approach, the quantitative aspects do call for a step further towards a ‘zero consumption’ track. Such a loom based on logical application of technological innovation and sound economic motive could compose a dramatic change in the situation leading to pollution manage at profit. The green productivity movement is needed to be in Middle East and suppose to be working very much earlier to engrave the concept of ‘clean technology (CT)’ in the region of Middle East or lower scale in Gulf Cooperation Council States through implementation of a standard methodology for emission cut in the polluting industries through minor process innovation or improved manufacturing practices. Such experiments should be supported on enhancement of resource productivity and recycling technology with particular focus on source reduction of effluents, isolation of waste streams, innovative application of separation technologies, in process recycling, waste exchange practices and introduction of environmentally sound manufacturing technologies. Such industries would cover a very wide scale to include also paper mills, textile dyeing & processing, chemicals & pharmaceuticals, dairy & food processing, metal finishing. Although environmental solutions varied from low cost innovation to application of complicated technologies, the underlying approach was that of zero emission and eco-efficiency with assured payback.

 

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